2010-2012 Astro log


Me and Astronomy:

Primary: Zhumell Z8 Deluxe Dobsonian 8" "Dob" <or> "Cannon"(208 hours)
Secondary Telescope: Celestron 3" FirstScope "The Toy"(33+ hours) 


Eyepieces 1.25": 		Generic Brand:		Zhumell:			Vixen
			20mm 			9mm Plssl		NPL 15mm
			12.5mm 						LVW 8mm
			6mm
			4mm 

Eyepieces 2": 					30mm Plssl

Barlow lenses:	2" Zhumell 2x ED

TELRAD: Yes

Environment: Suburban Sky near Detriot's outskirts, North of Detroit
Estimated Light Pollution level: 8+ (The sky apears as class 8 on the best nights, and 9 on the worst)
Camera: Sony CyberShot 4.1MP (up to 30s exposure @ 400ISO, F2.8, up to 5.1x optical magnification, 17x digital magnification), Sony a230 10.2Mp dSLR
Camera (only) lenses: 18-55mm F/3.5, 28mm film F/2.8 MACRO ONLY
Binoculars: (1) Tasco 10x50 Wide Angle
(2) 1943 German WWII Binoculars 7x56
Atlas/Sky map: Stellarium 0.11.0 and Celestia
Filters: Moon, Homemade White-light Solar Filter, O-III, borrowed light-pollution filter


Favorite Constellation: Orion
Favorite Galaxy: M51 "Whirlpool Galaxy"
Favorite Nebula: East/West Veil Nebulae
Favorite Cluster: M13 'Great Cluster in Hercules'
Favorite Planet: Jupiter / Saturn*

(*= In-season)

Favorite Object: None, they're all great!

/---Stats---/

Objects found:
-----
Messier:
M1 (Supernova Remnant) Mag 8.4
M3 (Globular Cluster) Mag 6.4
M4 (Globular Cluster) Mag 5.9
M5 (Globular Cluster) Mag 5.8
M6 (Open Cluster) Mag 4.2
M8 (Emission Nebula) Mag 5.8
M10 (Globular Cluster) Mag 6.6
M11 (Open Cluster) Mag 5.8
M12 (Globular Cluster) Mag 6.6
M13 (Globular Cluster) Mag 5.9
M14 (Globular Cluster) Mag 7.6
M15 (Globular Cluster) Mag 6.4
M16 (Open Cluster) Mag 6.0
M17 (Emission Nebula) Mag 6.0
M20 (Emission Nebula) Mag 6.3
M21 (Open Cluster) Mag 5.9
M22 (Globular Cluster) Mag 5.1
M25 (Open Cluster) Mag 4.6
M26 (Open Cluster) Mag 8.0
M27 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 8.1
M29 (Open Cluster) Mag 6.6
M31 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 3.5
M32 (Dwarf Elliptical) Mag 8.2
M33 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 5.7
M34 (Open Cluster) Mag 5.2
M35 (Open Cluster) Mag 5.1
M36 (Open Cluster) Mag 6.0
M37 (Open Cluster) Mag 5.6
M38 (Open Cluster) Mag 6.4
M42 (Emission Nebula) Mag 4.2
M43 (Emission Nebula) Mag 9.0
M44 (Open cluster) Mag 4.5
M45 (Open Cluster) Mag 1.6
M46 (Open Cluster) Mag 6.1
M47 (Open Cluster) Mag 4.4
M49 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 8.4
M51 (Grand-Design Spiral) Mag 8.4
M53 (Globular Cluster) Mag 7.7
M57 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 9.0
M59 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 9.8
M60 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 8.8
M63 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.6
M64 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.5
M65 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.3
M66 (Spiral Galxy) Mag 9.0
M67 (Open Cluster) Mag 6.9
M71 (Globular Cluster) Mag 8.3
M74 (Grand-Design Spiral) Mag 9.2
M76 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 12.0
M77 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.8
M78 (Reflection Nebula) Mag 8.0
M79 (Globular Cluster) Mag 8.0
M80 (Globular Cluster) Mag 7.2
M81 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 6.9
M82 (Starburst Galaxy) Mag 8.4
M84 (Lenticular Galaxy) Mag 9.3
M86 (Lenticular Galaxy) Mag 9.2
M87 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 8.6
M89 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 9.8
M90 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.5
M92 (Globular Cluster) Mag 6.5
M94 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.2
M95 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.7
M96 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.2
M97 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 11.2
M99 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.8
M101 (Grand-Design Spiral) Mag 7.7+
M102 (NGC 5866) (Lenticular Galaxy) Mag 10.0
M103 (Open Cluster) Mag 7.4
M104 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.3
M105 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 9.3
M106 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.3
M108 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 10.1
M109 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.8
M110 (Dwarf Elliptical) Mag 8.0
-----
New General Catalogue (NGC objects NOT listed in the Messier catalogue):
NGC 40 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 11.0
NGC 404 (Lenticular Galaxy) Mag 10.1
NGC 869 (Open cluster) Mag 4.0
NGC 884 (Open cluster) Mag 4.0
NGC 891 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 10.0
NGC 1023 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.5
NGC 1907 (Open Cluster) Mag 8.2
NGC 1980 (Open Cluster) Mag 2.5
NGC 1981 (Open Cluster) Mag 4.6
NGC 2022 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 12.0
NGC 2362 (Open Cluster associated with nebulosity) Mag 4.1
NGC 2392 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 10.0
NGC 2438 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 10.0
NGC 2841 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.3
NGC 2903 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.9
NGC 3115 (Lenticular Galaxy) Mag 9.2
NGC 3077 (Peculiar Galaxy) Mag 9.9
NGC 3242 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 9.0
NGC 3521 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 8.9
NGC 3628 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.5
NGC 4387 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 12.0
NGC 4388 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 11.1
NGC 4435 (Interacting Galaxy) Mag 10.9
NGC 4438 (Interacting Galaxy) Mag 10.1
NGC 4473 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 10.2
NGC 4477 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 10.4
NGC 4478 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 11.2
NGC 4494 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 9.9
NGC 4565 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.6
NGC 4567 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 11.3
NGC 4568 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 10.8
NGC 4596 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 10.5
NGC 4608 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 11.1
NGC 4631 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.3
NGC 4656/7 (Spiral Galaxies) Mag 10.4
NGC 4889 (Elliptical Galaxy) Mag 11.4
NGC 5195 (Dwarf Galaxy) Mag 9.6
NGC 5907 (Spiral Galaxy) 10.4
NGC 6210 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 9.0
NGC 6530 (Open Cluster) Mag 4.6
NGC 6543 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 9.0
NGC 6826 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 10.0
NGC 6939 (Open Cluster) Mag 7.8
NGC 6946 (Grand-Design Spiral) Mag 8.9
NGC 6960 (Supernova Remnant) Mag 7.0
NGC 6995 (Supernova Remnant) Mag 7.0
NGC 7000 (Emission Nebula) Mag 4.0
NGC 7009 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 8.0
NGC 7027 (Planerary Nebula) Mag 10.0
NGC 7293 (Planerary Nebula) Mag 7.5
NGC 7318 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 13.1
NGC 7320 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 12.7
NGC 7331 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 9.5
NGC 7606 (Spiral Galaxy) Mag 10.8
NGC 7662 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 9.0
-----
Index Catalogue (only)
IC 418 (Planetary Nebula) Mag 11.0
IC 4703 (Emission Nebula) Mag 8.0
-----
Planets/Asteroids:
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune (spotted)
Vesta (spotted)
-----
Supernovae
SN2011FE Mag ~10.5 +/- 0.5 (Found September 1, 2011)
-----
Special Stars: (Do not count as DSOs)
Hind's Crimson Star (Carbon Star)
-----

/---Numercial stats---/

Records
	Highest magnitudes reached so far: 
	(Planets/moons) 	a. 12.29 (Enceladus)
	(Deep sky)	b. 13.10 (NGC 7318)

	Farthest object directly observed so far: 308 Mly (NGC 4889)

Objects found (DSO):

	Galaxies: 		64
	Open Clusters: 		26
	Globular Clusters: 	14
	Planetary Nebulae: 	17
	Emission Nebulae:		7
	Reflection Nebulae:	1 (Messier 20 will NOT count as a Reflection Nebula)
	Dark Nebulae:		0 (Messier 20 will NOT count as a Dark Nebula)	
	Supernova Remnant:	3
	Supernovae:		1	
	
	Total DSOs found:		133
-------------
Milestones:

1. 100th object (Night of 11/17/2011)
2. 200 observing hours (Night of 4/24/2012)




6/12/10
Im not sure if this is going to catch on like my benchmark log, but I guess I will give it a try. So basically, I have grown into the interest of astronomy. I will not share my thoughts of time and space due to a lack in time, so therfore I will start this log with my tools of exploration instead. The scope I am using is a Celestron FirstScope 3" Reflector scope, and I use Stellarium for my local object map.


6/12
Looked at the sun today. But in a safely. I took three (or four) pairs of sunglasses and wha-la! The sun apeared as a white, perfect-circle in the sky. Unfortunetley, these events were short because there was much cloudiness. What spurred me to the idea was when I opened up Stellarium and found a potential case for a Solar Elcipse. Retracing time, it was not possible either earlier or later. Still, however, I wanted to see the Moon which was so close to the sun. I could not see the moon, but it was still a fantasic sight to behold.

I hate OVERCAST.
I really do. For the last week or two now, the sky has been nothing but overcast and very cloudy in both night and day. Very funny I thought, how the day before this started I plotted multiple Deep-Sky objects to examine, including a few Nebulas near Virgo, and two galaxies found near the stars of Ursa Major. To think, this was going to be the easiest, as unlike the Sombrero galaxy which was near the glare and hard to find. The other galaxy I was looking for is litteratley right next to one of the stars in Ursa Major. Oh how this upsets me. I guess I will have to wait. But my luck by then the constellations will shift.

6/13
Sky is still overcast. Did not look at Stellarium latley, but I dont think I need to. I do not know the where abouts of one of the sunglasses I was using, so unfortunetley, I was unable to examine our great star. Dad says by thursday the night will be clear. I hope he is correct. I am planning to look at other constellations soon.

7/4
First day from being down south. My little mission to observe DSOs, planets, and stars was both disapointing and a success. Unfortunetley, we could not find many of the DSOs as we have been hoping for. Sombrero, M108, M109, Triangulum, and Owl Nebula were not seen during anytime. However, we managed to see Andromeda as a very faint object, the Pleiades stars, and Jupiter (and even it's satallites, too). Besides the 'Hit or miss" objectives, we did come across some mixed thoughts. First of all, I was successful enough to find the stars that would lead up to or point to the object, so technically, I was looking at the things I 'missed'. Also, I found that this whole telescope thing is much more complex than I thought. It turns out that my telescope isn't even entry level compared to some of the home-made scopes. I was amazed by the "Dobsonian" scopes that people have been making. They are based exactley off of my scope, but they are much larger in size, and have much more power to see farther objects. My 2.99" Aperature is too small for seing the DSOs I was hoping to see. It seems I require atleast double that size, and the only way to do such a thing is to either buy an expensive telescope, or make one. It will be expensive, there is no way around that. Alot of people are saying it costs atleast $200 to build your own. Hell, I built my computer rather than buying a manufactured one, so why not? It looks hard. I've checked out alot of guides, but they are all confusing, and I cannot make sense of some of the required resources such as the aperature. I am still very interested and feel compelled to continue my journey of space, even if it means spending alot of money. But honestly, I think it will be just about worth it. So what if its costs $200? It beats $700, and that is a great fact since we won't be using it much. Who knows, maybe it could be a good Father and Son thing? Well, down below is a list of the things we wanted to look for and our results.

DSOs
------

{Galaxy} Sombrero Galaxy (NGC 4954)
Result: Found 99% probable posistion, but failed to observe image
{Galaxy} Andromeda Galaxy (NGC 224)
Result: Successfully located object, but image was extremley faint (Thanks to a full moon on that night at 4 o'clock)
{Galaxy} Triangulum Galaxy (NGC 598)
Result: Found 40-70% probable position
{Galaxy} M109 (NGC 3992)
Result: Found 90% most probable position, but failed to observe image
{Planetary Nebula} Owl Nebula (NGC 3587)
Result: Found 90% most probable position, but failed to observe image
{Galaxy} M108) (NGC 3556)
Result: Found 90% most probable position, but failed to observe image

Planets
---------

Jupiter; Observed via telescope and eye
Saturn; Observed via binoculars and eye
Uranus; Possibly seen, but moon glare and later reference screenshots show a different position from the guide

Stars
------

Spica; Y
Arcturus; Y

Other
-------

{Satallite} Moon
Result: Found and observed via scope, binoculars, and eye

{Galaxy} Milky Way (sky)
Result: Observed via eye

{Satallite} Jupiter's Moons
Result: Found, on accident, via telescope

{Open Star Cluster} Pleiades (all 7 main)
Result: Observed via eye, binoculars, and telescope



8/3(4)/10

Quite an interesting night this was...supposedley there is a Aurora to occur tonight (which I am still waiting for), I saw Venus, Mars, and Saturn, and I finally found Adromeda in my front yard. It was only a small spec, but it was enough for me to jump in excitment. After a few seconds though, I began to loose visibility thanks to the summer's intense humidity. Since I am not aloud outside, I will be force to observer these lights which are to (or not) occur. They most likley won't, thanks to the Detroit lights... 

8/6

The night was spectacular. It turns out a solar storm did occur, as the entire sky was a faint orange. I thought this was beause of the city lights, but this lights occured all around -even where major cities are absent- once again in an orange color. It also explains the difficulty to properly observe Andromeda. But I had great luck today. I saw Jupiter (possibly it's moons too), and I saw Andromeda with greater clearity. Have to go now.
(EDIT) The storm was not the cause for orange lights. It was just cloudiness over city skies and dew reflecting light.

8/~20

Went to Algonac for a small 2-night trip. Results were excellent. The moon was very bright (Hurt my eyes!), and Andromeda was as good looking in binoculars as my telescope at home. Unfortunetly I could not get alot of objects into my scope because of the Dew point, so I had to look through the binoculars. Perhaps the most significant event was seeing Triangulum for the first time. It was not as clear as Andromeda, but I think I saw it. At 4:12AM, I went outside to observe a beutiful sky. The Zenith presented Andromeda in almost perfect quality, and thanks to the absence of very large trees, I could see the entire constellation and even pegasus too (the first time I ever saw both at once). I even saw Pleides, all seven too (Note: Pleaides looked like a cloud!!). City glare was almost none-to-be found, except farther NE, but thankfully there were no objects of interest in that direction. Jupiter was also visible, and I believe I may have saw Uranus, but it was just a small blue dot. I do regret, however, failing to observe Orion. Later investigation in Stellarium shows that Orion was perfectley visible just under Pleides. So this means that I still have not see it, nor Betelgeuse, nor the truly awe-some nebulae. Oh well, maybe next time. Also, I finally have the money for the primary mirror for my 8" telescope, but I still need more. Perhaps dad could invest some?

9/22

Wow, almost a month since my last update? Huh. Lots to fill in. You can find my notes on Astronomy on the beach on my voice recordings. But for today...According to many sources, Jupiter is supposed to be it's closest ever since the 1960s I believe. And it won't be back until atleast 2022. Well, anyways, I sought the chance to look at our largest neighbor, the gas giant Jupiter. Yesterday's observations were poor due to much cloudiness. Tonight however brought optimal weather allowing exceptional observation (although the Full Moon's glare is present). From my backyard I can see the planet through my binoculars of course, but what amazed me most was the detail through my 3" scope. I could actually make out some of the stripes. This could be because of its distance or the fact that I recentley (attempted to ) colliminize my secondary mirror. But this is most of a good observation despite my scope's small aperature and the Moon's intense glare. It is definetley worth it though, this is the first time I could easily point out Jupiter's stripes..."Hey, I see the stripes." By the way Uranus is also visible but yes it remains a small blue dot even on my highest power.
	Without going into too much detail, I have plans for my next telescope. First of all, we are NOT building it. We talked to a fellow amatuer who told us that it is better to buy than build if you are a beginner. Me and my Dad were looking at this Zhumell telescope when he soon had us saying "Ooww Ahh!" about the amazing scope. And at an amazing price of only $360, my Dad says that isn't a bad price, which gives me alot of hope. Plus, I've gotten him interested into astronomey to a small degree. He even wants the telescope too. By the way it is a 8" scope with ALOT of accessories...sounds awesome.

10/7

Alot of cool stuff today. Found my first major Star Cluster, improved M31's clarity, and saw Jupiter's stripes. To begin, My first and primary objective was to see Comet Hartley 2, but it's 7 magnitude made it impossible to view from a suburban sky. Having all my stuff still out, I wanted to try some new techniques I learned from SkyandTelescope. I first tried out averted vision to gain as much light as possible. Although it worked slightley, it was only effective until I tried something else...pupil dialation. I've tried this before, but when I did it was only for a few minutes did I have my eyes shut. This time, I kept them closed for quite a while, using makeshift eyepatches and so on. The difference between my right (dialated) and left was amazing. The left was foggy and did not reveal alot of detail. But the right eye was sharp, and provided a excellent contrast. I swear I think I even saw the dustlanes too. Combined with averted vision this is really a plus, improving your visual experiance even with the weakest of telescopes (like mine). Also with my dedication for the dialated eye, I was unable to use the finder when I got lost because the finder is on the left side...requiring a right eye to operate. So instead of risking losing my slowly-built chemical properties, I did something incredible. I merely pointed the telescope in M31's general direction and navigated via 20mm eyepiece. I found it in less than a minute. Jupiter was also really cool to look at. A few days ago (that are not logged) I viewed Jupiter through binoculars and telescope. Everytime, I saw the stripes when using high-power. Perhaps the only difficulties I had this night was the humidity. It was so damp out that my eyepieces fogged in a matter of seconds, and required constant rubbing. I had to hold my breath to view the ultra-dim M31. During my search for Hartley, I attempted to find the Double Cluster, which I could not find until late 10PM. It kinda looks like a mini orion through binoculars. Still, it was pretty interesting even with binoculars, despite that they are just stars (and I don't know what the hype is all about). Overall not a bad night. Also this morning I tried to look at Orion, but my alarm watch failed to go off during the time of necessity. Hopefully it will go off next time, which is planned for next weekend. This time I will use a different watch or even just my regular alarm clock.

10/10
Have not completed tonight's observations yet, but I feel it is appropriate to state today and yesterday's findings before I forget. So yesterday after jetskiing at metro, I sought to vie the skies under what I thought were 'Dark Skies.' The Detriot lights proved to be so incredible that almost 180* of the sky was lit. This made it very difficult to view certain objects, and it was just an eyesore. I began to feel bored of astronomey, realizing I was limited to viewing only certain objects with my 3" Dob. I wanted to look at more, but I couldn't. But today I feel a bit more positive. Today I will try to look at the Ring Nebula (a suicide mission, to say the least), and I will attempt astrophotagraphy with the sony camera (which has been adjusted). Today I also looked at the sun...with binoculars. It may seem obvious that I am not blind, due to the fact that I am typing, and I read the articles on how to tune a camera for astrophotonics. I did what I did before...take a bunch of sunglasses and wear them all at once to give yourself your vary own poor-man's solar filter. I took 7 or 8 glasses, and while sitting in the window-tinted Dodge, I used the small binoculars to try and observe some of the sun's details. I think I may have found a few things, but holding 8 pairs of sunglasses and 3 and a half pound pair of binoculars is fairly difficult to handle in a cramped space. Still, it was very interesting to look at on this blazing october day. Yesterday's observations (or should I say: This morning) also included Orion and several nebulae. Orion nebula was very intriguing. You could see the nebula and the stars even on my small apereture. I also looked at the Rossete Nebula, in which I found the stars, but I could not find the 'cloud.' It was interesting non-the-less. When night falls, I will attempt astrophotography (AP) and I will look at (or atleast try to look at) the ring nebula. I will continue this log later.
UPDATE:
I think I found a new hobby...Astrophotography. I took several shots of the sky using my Sony CyberShot 4.1MB camera and I was amazed. The stars looked great, and it revealed so much about the stars above. It also revealed some negative effects of light pollution too. Either way, I am excited to continue this but yet again I am limited to resources. The 2004 camera is like a hummer, and it eats the batteries in under 5 minutes, so I am limited to many time exposures. The most exciting is that I can take pictures of DSO such as M31. It is faint, but due to the low resolution of the camera and the heavy light pollution I live in. Still, I can remove these difficulties when I am at a dark site, and I think even the most basic skies like at a campsite would do fine. I am very impressed. The ring nebula was also a blow. I have no idea why that guide I read for "beginners" had a 9.0 magnitude object...I thought it would work because their reference 'was a 2.4" refractor, and I believe that is a weak type? I don't know. Oh well, taking those pictures was fun non the less. By the way, I figured out that for those objects too high for my regualr tripod can just be found when I placed the camera on the end of my telescope (hehe).

*EDIT* (1/10/11)
Not sure if this is the exact date, but when I looked at the sun, I could have sworn I saw a sunspot.
10/21
Hmm, 11 days since my last post? Oh well. Nothing too exciting anyways. Besides the fact that I may have accidentley confirmed the purchase of the Z8, Yeah, nothing new. I'm just a little warry, but then again it seems there is nothing else better within that price range. I have put smaller aperature into consideration to outset the cost of a better mount, but there is no scope
that offers a balance of aperature and mount for $350. I could go cheaper (~$280), but I would have to sacrafice a large aperature. Although a good mount may be helpful in astrophotography, I still believe that I should wait on that part, atleast until I can work out some sort of camera mounting system. But yes, so far it looks like the 8" Dob is going to be the winner here, but it seems that all of the sudden price is a little bit of an issue. With "half-price" shipping, the total jumps up to almost $400. I certainly hope that the views from this scope with be worth the cost.

A quick note: This telescope is just $360. I was very suprised to find out that my dad actually responded in a positive way when we first encountered the scope at Kennsington. With my investment of $80 or so, this should reduce the telescope's price to ~$280 - the same price as the smaller aperature, better mount scopes. I would like to point out that this is only a beginning point, just like my computer. When I first got into computers, I got the idea to DIY it for a small price tag of around $533. Since I view this as a good achievement in my history, I think I may invest in a better system, with a preferred price tag of more than $1000. If the telescope is successful for my passion in astronomey, I may invest more in the future for larger equipment, spending once again in the $1000 range.
I also find it pretty funny that telescopes and computers are alike as in future upgrades. You can swap out eyepieces, finder scopes, mounts, etc. Just like in a computer where you can upgrade graphics, memory, cpu, etc. However, like computer parts, these come at high prices. Eyepieces start at $45, and to me that is pretty high for such a small component (then again, those smaller CPUs can run for as much as a grand, but I don't complain), especially filters too - the cheapest light pollution filter on Orion's website is $75! Although this isn't really an issue for me (I am comfortable with default components for the time being until I find it necessary to upgrade), since I am not too savy for telescope accessories, I think sometime in the future I will deepen my passion to the point where I can justify such and expensive upgrade.

12/01

Both my birthday and Christmas come early this year. Yes, that's right; I just got the Z8 today, and I am nothing short of excited. It seems the "new telescope curse" is true, because it's STILL overcast. With local pickup we saved $10 and also met Jeff himself. We were even informed on some good deals for eyepieces (I'm really excited about the Vixen eyepieces that are 15% off).

12/03

Finally got the chance to see first light from the Z8...for only 15 minutes. Yes, that's correct. Only 15 minutes of viewing, and again I will have to wait another 2 weeks for the clouds to clear up for my next 10 minutes of observing. But anyways, I was amazed. Our first (and only) target was Jupiter, and man, that was sweet. With the lowest power in (2" 30mm), the telescope well-surpases the highest power (1.25" 4mm) when viewed with the FirstScope. Plus, the contrast and detail was outstanding. You could easily spot the stripes, and the moons were very bright in comparison to the Firstscope. With every boost in magnification, I began to notice that tracking the object became more and more difficult. The movements of this scope are silky smooth, but at that magnification, I don't think any manual is too easy to use. Although my last observations were very brief, I managed to see jupiter with the 4mm (300x?). Quality dropped a little (due to lense fogging), but the planet took up almost a third of the FOV. I can't wait for some clear skies so I can look at some Deep-Sky objects.

Although I am happy with the telescope so far, I am still very agitated by the weather (and the Weather Channel). The Weather Channel keeps changing their predictions on a hourly basis. You cannot rely on their results. They claimed that the skies would only be partley cloudy yesterday and today, but it looks like it's been cloudy on both occasions. This really pisses me off. I just got this sub-$400 telescope and I can't even use it. What really angers me more is that it takes weeks for even the slightest clear spot to open with these clouds, and you'll be lucky if those openings last for a couple of minutes. Then, it's straight back to waiting another 2 weeks for the skies to clear (for a very short period of time). It's just not fair, but it's no ones fault. I had to get this scope on 12/1 because it was the best time to do so. I needed to test this scope, and sure it works. I just really want those skies to clear so we can look at some of the more interesting objects. What else is agrivating is the fact that I had the chance to look at all those great things in the sky, but I made the fatal choice of basing my short-lived session on Jupiter alone. I should have kept the scope on the concrete so I could look at some other things. At the time, Pleides was high enough as well as Andromeda.

Besides just the weather, there are alot of other things to consider now. The most important thing is where I will be putting this thing when I obeserve, and how will I get it there. Since there is so much stuff (trees, power lines) in the way, I found that I had to move my FirstScope around alot to get comfortable views. This was easy at the time. All I needed was a dinner tray to move around outside. Total weight was less than 10 pounds. Now with this scope, the mount itself weighs around 30 pounds. The entire setup is ~54 pounds, and don't forget that if you must move the telescope, you have to do it one part at a time. I think some wheels would work out, but even then I would still need a flat platform to place my telescope on. I could use the jetskit storage square, but that wood is uneven. I think the best idea is to either get a large piece of wood or construct a very sturdy platform weighing more than 20 pounds for stability.

12/05

I am infuriated. Today would present a moon-less sky, thus making the perfect night for Deep-Sky observing with my new telescope. What angers me is that I was so close to achieving first light, but for the second time my plans were sqaushed by the "bed-time" limitations. These clouds will just not let up. By the time they disapate, it is too late. Or they disipate too early, resulting in a clouded sky. According to the radar, exactley 16 minutes from now (12:46), the skies will be perfectley clear. Just my luck right? Mom comes home early tonight just in time to ruin my chances of first light. Because of this, I threw my hat and gloves down in frustration. I give up. I will just have to wait until the lake effect is diminished once the lakes have frozen. After that, there should be plenty of clear skies.

12/06

I would like to dedicate a moment to my position in this hobby. Since I have just purchased a 'real' telescope, I believe now is the time to start getting involved in things. I'm talking about groups too. I just recentley checked the website for that astronomey class at my school, and I am extremely excited for it next year. I will defenitley take it...maybe even this year. But I know I still have much to do before I get involved in groups. I haven't even seen a single DSO in the Z8, let alone more than one planet. I still have alot to learn to, as I am still not too familiar with certain Constellations, Star names, positions, etc. Besides these real-time situations, for the first time, I am considering Astronomey as a career. I thought computers were my thing...but it seems that is just to complicated for me right now. I know nothing of coding, programming, or anything else related to that. The only thing I know is the components, and on occasion I can judge one's performance. It seems that this comes much eaiser to me. I can map out the sky in my head, predict lunar/planetary events, and even some timings for certain objects. I have also become an expert on M31 (exageration?). Not in the sense of seeing, but knowing it's position. Right now I know it is near the Zenith as I am typing this, and in about...say...4 to 6 hours it will set in the southern sky. Oh well. Maybe I am obsessed, I don't know. All I know is that I am still very anxious to let my Z8 let loose!

*UPDATE*

FIRST LIGHT!

Extreme winds tore up enough overcast clouds to create a 15 minute gap that allowed me to see M45, M42, and M31. My first sights were in the 2" 30mm. M45 was first, and I expected what I saw. Nothing too new or interesting here...accept there are alot more stars visible...ALOT. M42 was a huge disapointment in the 30mm...at first. Soon I realized that the cloud was larger than the FirstScope's, and averted vision allowed me to see some of the edges. M31 through the 30mm was the same thing I saw from the FirstScope. Nothing changed with M31, so thumbs down there. Hoping to see better in the 9mm, I swapped to the 1.25" format. Through the 9mm I lost M31 to incoming clouds. The next thing was M42 through the 9mm. The image was breathtaking. It is almost impossible to describe in words the complex details of the nebula. When looking back to Pleaides, I was not suprised to be lost in endless numbers of stars. Overall I was satisfied, but hopefully better conditions and precise collimation will improve some of the less than ok images. At this point, this telescope is not worth the price. If a light of smudge is the best it is going to get for galaxies, then those other galaxies will only be more of a disapointment. But again, conditions were less than ideal. Turbulence was extremely high, it was very cloudy, very cold, and M31 was at the Zenith...which made it hard to find. For all I know, I could have been looking at the wrong thing. I don't know though. I will have to wait for better skies still. I am just glad that I finally got the chance to check out some DSOs.

12/10

Begin records:
First Scope: 30s
Bino1: 15s
Z8: 3 (1/2) Hours
I'm having a really good day today. Besides a cheerful day of school, I got those perfect sky conditions I was hoping for; above freezing temperetures, ok dew point, low humidity, and CLEAR SKIES! That's right. Almost all day today I saw CLEAR SKIES. At night, there were NO clouds in sight. I first began observations on the moon for the first time. I was blown away. The moon through this scope looks way better than any picture I've ever seen. You have to see it for yourself. I was astouned by the imense details on the moon. There were many more craters visible that were previously invisible in the FirstScope (even on lowest power!). Moving on the Jupiter, we observed many details such as those stripes...especially the South equatorial belt. At 10 o'clock I tried to see the GRS. I think I saw something, but it was too hard to be sure. I think I will need a barlow if I want to see the GRS up close. My next target was Uranus, but I did not see this because I was too lazy, and I didn't have much luck anyways. Moving on to the DSOs, once again I was a little disapointed at M31. Only the bulge was visible, and with it M110 (it's companion). I tried to get Triangulum in view too, but by then the object was very close to the Zenith, and of course it was hard to locate. I don't think I even found it. I did get some success with M57 however, and I know that sounds strange. M57 is a very hard target to find on this scope. You cannot lock this scope's Alt-Az into place, making it very difficult to swap eyepieces and keep centered on a extremely small object at the same time. I do recall that when I was looking through the 30mm, I should describe M57 as "that one star that never comes into focus." The only clusters I could find tonight included the Double Cluster (M24) and Pleaides (M45). Seeing M24 for the first time in this scope, I was suprised. There were more stars, and the clusters appeared to be more complex and dense. M45 looked good as usual. M42 was beutiful, in both 9mm and 30mm. After a while you can make out alot of detail in the 30mm, including some borders and the trapezium. It was tinted green.

By the way, I should mention that Lunar results were spectacular, in the sense that the quality was so good that I could even see some heat radiating off of the Earth's surface.

I am afraid the night is not over. At about 5 or 6 AM, I will wake up to see Venus, Saturn, and maybe some of the galaxies in Virgo.

12/11
Could not look...cloudy skies >:(

12/20/10 and 12/21/2010

Saw the Lunar Eclipse :) +1 Hour for Z8

Thankfully I woke up early enough (1:30AM) to see the Moon shift to it's eclispse state. There were clouds, but thankfully they were thin enough so that I could still see the Moon  (even when it was mostly red) through my telescope. But unfortunetly, I could not watch the entire show because the clouds became denser and denser to the point where the Moon was the same color as the sky-glowed clouds. I got some shots in, but unfortunetly my camera was not sensitive enough to capture the red or orange effects. Atleast they were of good quality though (You can tell it is eclipsing because there is no moon phase that shows the Full-Moon's face in a shadow), and they are legit shots.

+6 1/2 Hours for Z8
They day before (same "night"), I saw a little bit of Jupiter, but mostly the Full-Moon because of light cloud cover. I realized that the Moon was probably my favorite object in the 30mm eyepiece, and that I really needed a better eyepiece for high power!

//////HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!/////

-----------------
<<<<2011>>>>
-----------------

Note: 1/8/11
+1 Hours, 35Minutes for Zhumell Z8

1/9/11

+2 hours for Zhumell Z8

1/10/11

+1 hour for Zhumell Z8

For the past couple of days, I have not been filling out descriptive notes. I shouldn't. I just wanted to get the following into these records incase at some point I am seen as 'Lazy'

First of all, I am not doing anything different. I am not testing things, such as new equipment, tactics or skills.

Second, I have been looking at the same objects for a long time. The Moon is finally visible around my ideal observation time (5-6pm), and Jupiter has become one of my favorite objects. I find it very intruiging to look for bands and the GRS (still no confirmed observations yet) and to study the GM (Galileo Moons) and their orbit. M42 and M45 have become very popular DSOs, while M31 has drifted to the Detroit lights, thus becoming difficult to find and observe.

Third, I have to understand that studying the sky is not about racing, in terms of finding and locating as many objects as possible. It is not about being the best amateur astronomer because you try to visit alot of objects. It is about observing and enjoying a good night and observing those objects that you find interesting. Me and my father have spent some time studying Jupiter. With every collimation we get better and better detail too.

If I were to report some goods of the past couple of nights, the most interesting would be tonight's findings. I was astounded when I spotted a black spot on Jupiter...and then another (also seen by my Dad). I new these must have been shadows made by the GMs, as I had read this weeks update on SkyandTelescope.com...plus, we confirmed these shadows by going into Celestia to compute the two shadows made by the GMs (don't know which ones). I should point out that our observations were actually ~42.5 minutes off track due to the brilliant distance of Jupiter, and the results caused by the "slowness" of light.

Also, I think on 1/9, I was taking a look at M42 with some less than ideal conditions (LOTS of snow cover; 3x light pollution), but I was amazed that perfect collimation can yield very impressive results. With averted vision I want to point out the M42 seemed to grow "wings" that soared from it's sides. 

1/30/11

Still no moon
Still no SEB
No Shadows on Jupiter
Lots of snow still on the ground (Bortle x3)
Bortle: 9+

It's been very cloudy latley. Hopefully, now that we've entered Feburary, we should see some more clear nights (atleast that's what my Dad says). A couple of days before this log, I setup the Dob for a 'Jupiter Only' quest. It was too cold (10*, with a -5* windshield) to look at other objects. Maybe if I brought an easier, more portable scope like the Toy it wouldn't be much of an issue. Still, I went well beyond my 30min observation time and drifted towards an hour or more. Nothing much to say, obviously.

Just yesterday (1/30), I had better luck with clear skies, good seeing, and temperatures in the low 20s (steadily declinging however with little wind). I spend atleast an hour looking at Jupiter...just after an unusual collimation where I found my secondary mirror to be severly out of alignment. Thanks to the laser, I got a good adjustment, and therfore got good results at the eyepiece. Once again, nothing new here. I was looking for moon shadows, the GRS, and I tried to make out some of the southern bands (btw, just a week ago I realized that Jupiter has actually lost it's South equatorial belt, so any posts before this mentioning the SEB are false, they are actually the NEB). No moon shadows were found, and the GRS transited at the wrong time (beyond it's set of the horizon). I did however get to see some lower bands with careful seeing, but after an hour of observing, my eyes were tired and out of alignment!

After watching a movie (a great way to take a break and warm-up), I moved the scope onto the deck to try hunting in Ursa Major again. Once again, no luck. This time, I knew where to look. I figured a triangle near the bottom star (Alkaid), where M51 resides to the right. Nothing here. Must be the snow on the ground, causing trouble still. I also tried the objects near Phad and Merak...still no luck. I guess Mag 8-9 objects are not good targets out here.

Also: I salvaged an eyepiece from my Tasco 10x50s. I figure theyre junk anyways, so why not (though this was only temporary). The results were well beyond what was expected. I found a very large field of view, excellent light transmission, and great eye-relief. I still have not clue about the magnification, but my assumption is that it has less than my 12.5mm piece (less than 96x). I am not disapointed. I found this to be great for viewing M42, as I get the best of everything: Eye-relief, a wide field, suitable magnification, and overall a much brighter image. I can't wait until I can use this for M31 without snow.

2/4

+1.5 hours for Z8

I am very happy today with results. I decided to do some more 'Galaxy hunting' in Ursa Major. Originally, I was going to find M31 to test with the new eyepiece, but I was thrown off by tree obscuration and excessive street-light glare. So instead I thought to look for some other things. I am kinda tired of M42 and M45, so I looked back to Ursa Major. Although I failed to see M51 and other DSOs in the constellation, I had reason to believe for more luck. First of all, the objects I was looking for were higher than 9.0 Mag, so obviously they would be hard to see. Second, they were either too close to the Zenith or the were obscurred. Nevertheless, I looked for more options. In stellarium, I realized that Bode's Nebula(e) (M81+M82) were well within reach of UM. After alot of searching (back and forth visits to stellarium), I finally FOUND them. I was extremley excited when they arrived in the eyepiece. I first saw one through the binocular eyepiec (10x50). With the 2", I was suprised to notice brighter images and to get both galaxies in the FOV. It was very impressive to finally find a new galaxy, but to find TWO was outstanding. Plus, Living in Bortle 9 with snowfall gives me even more hope to when I go to a dark site or if the snow goes away soon. 
My notes of Bode's Nebula(e) should describe them to be very faint, with the Cigar to be fainter and stick-like. M81 almost apeared stellar when focused correctley. Using averted vision, they become slightly larger but do not gain much detail. I confirmed the findings with Stellarium, as the Cigar is closer to the triangle references. Although very faint, I did find both eventually and I can describe their shape again...Cigar is stick-like and M81 is almost a bulge.
------
Now that it is getting later into Winter, the Summer stars are rising sooner. With that, so is Saturn. At 12 O'clock Saturn rised above the horizon with enough visibility. The images were ok, but since they still lurked behind the trees, I noticed some chromatic abberation when at high power. I could not resolve any surface details, but I found it's rings and ofcourse the body.

Objects found today: 2
1. M81 (Galaxy)
2. M82 (Galaxy)

2/?/2011 +1 hour Z8

Don't remember what day this was. It was a few nights ago from today (2/11). It might have been Wednesday. Anyways, There was nothing new or very interesting. I looked at the young Moon (Crecent), and the Bode's Nebula again. I think the 2" does better than the binocular eye. Oh yeah...also I looked at Jupiter to find the SEB for the first time. That is no mistake. There were TWO cloud bands on the planet, and SkyandTelescope even reported that we should keep our eyes out for the return of the SEB. Did not see the GRS.

2/19/2011 +3.5 hours for Z8

I have to go to bed soon so I will try to make this quick...

Ok, so nothing very new today in terms of galaxy hunting etc. However, I got some great shots of the Waning Gibbous Moon, and I got a few O-K shots of Saturn. I started today's session with hope, as temperatures for this month were well-suitable, most of the snow melted, wind was absent, and I realized that the GRS would transit 10 minutes before I setup the scope. Unfortunetly I now came to the thought of Jupiter and it's ending season. At the apparent time of transit, the planet through the scope was very fuzzy and washed out. I, at first thought it was poor collimization, but everything checked out fine. However, the blame is most likley due to the intense Detroit lights, poor seeing, and heat which was rising from the houses below. After that demoralization, I went to M42 for a quick visit. With the snow gone, I caught a glimpse of what to expect in the spring, which was not bad. I will note that M42's 'wings' apeared easier and the nebula looked slightly larger in averted vision. My next object(s) were Bode's Nebula again. With no snow and a low Moon, I showed this pair to my Dad for the first time. He had a little trouble finging M82, but M81 popped out very much so for both of us. M31 Andromeda is still victim to Detroit lights and my sun-like street light which glare blocks any possibility of observing. We also looked at M45...nothing new. After a few hours we also looked at the Moon. I was very impressed and so was my Dad. Being only a 1-day old Waning Gibbous I was suprised to find many features along the new terminator. My success increased as I took some shots without the tele-photo lens...now I'm starting to think that that lense was the problem the entire time. Go ahead. Just check out the new shots and compare them to the old and tell me they don't look any better. After a 1-hour break I came outside to be greeted by Saturn, who was by ~11:30 high enough for comfortable viewing and acceptable shots. My Dad and even my Mom also took a peak at her too. I viewed all the way up to 300x, but when my parents were observing I brought down the power to about 90x (with the binocular eyepiece) because even I had some trouble tracking the planet after a while. 
Okay, I think that's it for tonight...I plan for the moring to wake up and see this 'Giant' Moon that my Dad talked about earlier today.

3/11/11 +1.5 Hours for Z8

I've done some observing last week, but unfortunetly I was too lazy to log my experiences. I just remember that I spent some time with it.

What I really want to log right now is my day-time find(s). For the first time in a week, it's finally clearing (slowly, though) enough where I can look at the sun with my new Solar Filter. I took some cardboard, cut to fit my Z8, and I made a hole away from the center for a 50mm aperature. Therfore, it can be used for any scope with the same light-gathering power. I didn't want to take out my 54-pound scope so instead I attatched it to the Celestron. I was pretty suprised at what I saw. I originally found a few sunspots with my 10x50s but with just 20x power in the Celestron I could make out better detail faster including the sunspots. With the 9mm (44x), I could make out 3 sunspots all in a row. Because I am using material to only lessen the sun's glare in windows, I had to combine atleast 8 to 24 layers to down the brightness. Although it works okay for a project that costed me $0 and about 10 minutes of work, the White-Light filter works fine with the Celestron. I won't test it on the Z8 for a number of reasons including the fact that I don't want to drag out that big 'ol scope just to look at the sun. Believe me, I would even like to keep looking right now, but I don't want to push my luck with scotch-tape. Especially since FAAC is tomorrow and they might have some good Solar filters (I would absolutley LOVE a H-Alpha filter for the Z8) for a good price.

~7:00pm +1 hour for Z8

Found MERCURY.

It was very low in the sky. Achromatic Abberation from cheap eyepieces and atmospheric disturbances at 15 degrees...We should note that 15* is the absolute lowest we can go. Mercury by now is already out of site...behind the trees.

Also got to see Bode's nebula again, along with M44 (Praesepe). My observation notes for M44: The cluster has a variety of stars including colors in blue, white and red.

Objects found today: 1

1. M44 Praesepe (Open Cluster)

*EDIT* M44 is aka "Beehive cluster"

3/12/11

No observation notes for today thanks to clouds, but I got some new equipment today at FAAC. If you go to the equipment area, you will see them. Saw some interesting lectures, and met some good people too. I am also going to the March 26 "show" where people will be brining their scopes to Metro Beach. I will definetly bring mine too! I already can't wait.

The new parts:
I got probably the best deal I will ever get in a lifetime. GRS Astro was (still) selling their Vixen eyepieces at 45% off. I was lucky enough to find the LVW 8mm for $160 - $289 being the original price. I also got a Vixen NPL 15mm for $20, which is normally $40. This was pretty amazing, because not only was I getting a steal for these "Ferraries" of Astronomy, but that LVW was actually apart of their best pieces you could buy. The 8mm won an award for it being the best piece in it's class, it has an 8-element design (instead of the 2-3 I have mostly), and a much larger 65* of view. All very impressive. I look forward to a cloudless night soon.
By the way the LVW fits both 2" and 1.25" at the same time. It would also be perfect with a barlow because given our telescope's 1200mm focal, we get 150x and then 300x with a Barlow...which is the power I was aiming for because our 4mm is just too crappy for viewing anything. So now I will have to look for one of those. Hopefully someone will know alot about those on March 26...because I point brought by my Dad is that the quality of the Barlow may limit the potential of the eyepiece. So the $50 Zhumell Barlow might compromise some qualities on my $300 eyepiece insead of the $200 Televue Barlow.

3/20/11

Could not enter any logs recently because of poor weather and my busy schedule. Latley it has been very hazey. Every night so far since last week has either been cold and cloudy or cold and hazy. Although the skies are not entirley obscured, the moon's light combined with haze makes it impossible to see DSOs and other various objects such as saturn. Because of the poor weather I have not been able to get some absolute tests going for my new eyepieces. I have only been able to to observations on the moon and a little on Saturn. The moon today and yesterday were to be the largest this year. This night it was actually pretty large. It was quite impressive on 3/18 when it first peared over the Eastern horizon. Saturn on the other hand has been subjected to a rediculous amount of haze and clouds. Even with these features, Saturn sustains a similar image as with some of my low end EPs. Low detail, blurry, and dim with the new Vixens. Not very impresed so far especially for the LVW which runs for nearly $300. I can't imagine spending that much on something that is acually a false claim of it's reputation. However on the moon the LVW does good, and I can see it as the perfect EP for Lunar hunting (like, looking for specific features on the moon). The 65* field is nice for a EP of this power. Also, I am not to complain on its ability to keep stars on the edges and to reduce some abberation (although it still exists if you look for it). The NPL is exactley where it is expected. Features abberation, a small FOV, and a low power. Could be used for some of those medium sized DSOs. I've been also meaning to test that LVW on M3, which was supposed to be my first Globular cluster in the Z8. Thanks to poor weather, I have not been able to achieve this. Plus, the inconsistant facts and the multitude of false-claims on the weather channel has been frustrating. All this week and even the day before they said it was going to be clear. Even now at 1 AM the skies are still hazey. I would like to ask, does TWC hire meteorologits who just graduated elementary school? Because they seriously need to get their information right. Their predictions are always wrong.

BTW I just ordered my tripod. It's a Vivitar Pro 74" tripod. I know 74" is overkill (6+ Feet) for my uses, but it should come in handy eventualy. It by itself weighs...about 5-10 pounds? I know it can support atleast 10 or 11. This is great because it is heavy enough to stabalize itself and it can hold some heavy equipment. I plan to use it mostly for astrophotography and maybe some amaeture photography later when (or if) I get a DSLR (Too bad I didn't get that used CANON dSLR for $150 at FAAC). Later on, if I get a binocular adapter, I'll use if for my 10x50s, and I might even invest some $$ in some large bino's (atleast 70mm) or a small telescope. Orion offers some good deals...a 80mm f/5 refractor, a 114mm f/3.5 reflector, or a 90mm f/13.9 Mak-Cassegrain. The Cassegrain and the refractor sound nice. But the refractor is cheaper than the Mak-Cass, but I still want that long 1250mm focal length and a large FOV at the same time. Plus, that reflector is the cheapest but it doesn't come with rings and it has a crappy focuser...hmm this could take some thinking. I'm also debating on another scope which is the Celestron astromaster 130EQ MD which is an F/5 reflector on an equatorial mount with a motor drive. I though this would be great because I could acually do some real astrophotography. But then again I don't even have a nice camera let alone an adapter for the camera to telescope. The other scope is a larger refractor...preferably a 90mm. This is difficult because the only 90mm on EQ is $330, the 90mm on AZ is cheaper, but my tripod would make half of the investment worthless. I could just buy the 90mm OTA, but where? And wouldn't the 90mm Mak-Cass be the same, or would it's mirror make it worse? Oh the agony.

3/26

Been getting lazy again. I think it's safe to assume now that I will only be doing observing on the weekends. Over the week I completly forgot about the Sidewalk astronomey event at Metro beach. I won't be bringing my telescope because I don't want to hull a 50 pound telescope for 5 minutes while going to the site in cold, partly cloudy weather. I don't even think that many people will be there because it will be less than 17*. This would be a perfect opporunity to have a small scope or a binocular adapter for my new tripod that I got on thursday. I do have a small scope that is compatible, but its that crappy 40mm sharper image scope. I've got good binoculars, but no adapters. I will bring my camera though, so I can try to get some good star shots without so much light pollution (Bortle 8). I have tested the tripod, and I got some good results. If you have seen my 'special projects' folder, you saw my low ISO shots of orion. I could only do them in groups because the prior mounting system was too difficult to use. With this new, ultra steady 6.3 pound tripod, I can take as many shots as I want, as seen in my new low-ISO stacks including my ISO 100 5 sec expoures which consists of 6 layers. That came aout much better because the angle was unchanged and getting the stars to alighn was rather easy.

BTW I just observed the sun an found 2 sun spots. The last time I looked (not logged), there were no sunspots. Before that, there were three. The sun is amazingly dynamic.

3/28 +2 hours for Z8
Going to have to make this quick because I'm already 25 minutes past my bedtime. To start, I saw 2 sunspots agin, this time with a larger distance from each other. During the night I took about 100 photos for stack imaging of various constellations. I observed Clear Saturn for the first time with good conditions, and I found M104 the Sombrero galaxy. Suprisngly easy to find and remarkably bright for a distant galaxy. Had an obvios eliptical shape similar to hubble photos but you can still see it as a fat, horizontal line. Process photos tomorrow. BTW the Metro astronomey event was a blow. Barley anyone there, not alot of telescopes, freezing cold, windy, and hazy. Disaopinted but I gained a few new insights and a few good photos with a Bortle 8 sky.

Objects found today: 1
1. M104 Sombrero (Galaxy)

3/29
No night observations today. After school I put the sun filter on the Z8 and got some really nice images. The same 2 sunspots remain with the same distance. The 'bottom' sunspot seems to
have a faint, un-resolvable partner to it. Through the Z8 the sun is much larger and you get alot more detail and seeing space with the 30mm. Took some shots of the sun which can be found in the astrophoto folder. I also stacked some pictures today. Ursa Major I is the first actual stack-shot which isn't a project. With 16 layers of 5 second, ISO 100 shots, you can see alot more stars and light pollution is less obvious. Grain is dramatically reduced, white balance/skyglow isn't an obvious feature, and there are no star-trails normally seen in long exposure shots. However the only two problems make this a compromise. Stacking isn't very easy. Besides moving the stars to the correct possitions, it is easy to get frustrated with angles. Plus, the more layers you add, the slower the program runs. The second issue is nothing though. Its just that the sensitivitey isn't as good. 
Also thinking about that barlow lens. Not ready to spend $200 on one. I was really hoping there would be some people who knew alot about them, but like I said before barley anyone was there. The Zhumell $50 is the best candidate so far. Then again we might compromise the eyepieces quality.

The following describes my thoughts and how to find M104:

	"Unlike the other Virgo galaxies, M104 is of the easiest galaxies to find from any sky. It's exquisite shape, complexity, and it's relative brightness make it an attractive object for 	Spring time hunting. I will explain how to find this object in Bortle 9 skies with an 8" reflector. Let me set the standard for you: I am using an f/5.9 Dob (1200mm) and several eyepieces. I have a "stock" 30mm Plssl and a "stock" 9mm Plssl, along with two Vixen eyepieces; an 8mm LV-W and a 15mm NPL. I would wisely suggest that you stick with low-power, high FOV eyepieces (preferably in the 2" format). Using low power EPs allows the user to maintain high brightness and a larger window to search. To begin, I would recommend that you wait until Corvus rises. Corvus will provide a beginner with additional stars to use when star-hopping. Once you can spot Virgo and Corvus at the same time, you can start searching. While reading, please reffer to a starchart. Lets start at Corvus. Notice the two stars at the edge (between Corvus and Virgo). Use these stars as pointers. Once the top-most star is in the finder scope, start moving towards Virgo, away from Spica. You should come across three stars that make a small triangle. After you spot those, move towards Virgo again to find three more stars, this time in a straigh line. Follow these stars towards Spica slowly. You should spot some high magnitude stars, and along the way, M104. Although it features a resonably low magnitude, it can be difficult to distinguish without averted vision. After spending some time at the eyepiece, try to switch back and fourth, direct and averted vision. After this, you should be able to resolve a 'cut' between the bulge. This is the dustlane.If you were lucky enough to spy this object with larger optics and/or darker skies, you might see the band pop into view quicker. But as far as my observations go, it is good enough for my skies."

4/2/11 +3.5 Hours for Z8

Found M3, the Globular cluster. This makes my first Globular, and I was impressed. The Vixen LVW shows alot of detail with averted vision. After 5 minutes you van start to pinpoinmt some of the faint stars within the glowing mass. I also got some pictures. After M3 I got some premature views of saturn. Very blury, low detail and ruined by atmospheric disturbances at 150x. M104 looked nice after some time looking at it with the 8mm Vixen. That eyepiece has earned it's reputation. Excellent for Globular, and Galaxies. Also, later, I got soe better views of Saturn. Astonishing. Bands, Cassini Division, moons, and ring shadows were all visible late around 1 AM. A good night. I was lucky to get clear skies over the weekend because tomorrow and the rest of the week is supposed to be rainy and cloudy. Leider, bekomme ich keine photos auf Saturn. (lol german) The batteries died quickly...so I could not get any sharp images with saturn (too bad, I could have used that tripod for extra stability. Also ventured into the Virgo Cluster. GALAXY CITY. Or atleast, thats what it ought to be. It was a total disapointment. Only about 1 or 2 galaxies were visible, the rest being stars. Maybe I'll be lucky in the future with better conditions to observe them. Note that no Virgo galaxies will be added because I didn't know which was which.

Objects found today: 1
1. M3 (Globular Cluster)

4/9/11 +3.5 Hours for Z8

The Celestron and Z8 are tied! As soon as my next observing session comes, we can finally declare the Z8 as the main scope! Hurrah!

Taking in the Spring skies. Went out at 9PM to get some good views of the young moon, and to get some really good close-ups with that new tripod. After the Moon I swung over to M3 once again. Every time it gets more familiar, but it's still hard to find. Never the less, M3 looked spectacular even through the Vixen 15mm. Stars resolved with averted vision and my new double-eye technique (Keep both eyes open and you see more faint details, ironically). When I replaced the 15mm with the LVW, I was blown away! Those stars came right out at me even with direct vision. The intricity of pinpointed stars was infinite; as time went you could identify more and more single stars, up to the point where it was possible to tell the difference bewteen brightness among stars in the Heart of the cluster. With averted vision and double-eye, the Cluster practically doubles in size. After Globular cluster fun, my Dad went in early despite his intentions to see Saturn. However I wanted to stay out till 1 to see M13, but I simply cannot as I am exausted from school, and I am physically drained after putting on and taking of 60 pounds of winter gear (plus my 50 pound scope too). Maybe if it was clear tomorrow night I would be willing to stay up later. Oh well. After Saturn I looked into the Virgo cluster. Still can't see my distant neighbors in that scope. Atleast I can see my favorite "Sombrero" galaxy though, below in Corvus. After those attempts I gave Leo one last try to see those super faint galaxies. I originally thought of this as a "suicide mission," but I was shocked to see 2 faint clouds exactley where they were expected. I might have saw a third, but I can't be sure. Those 2 galaxies were Messier Objects M66 and M65. NGC 3628 was not included because I could not confirm a sighting. Besides, it had the highest magnitude rather than the Messiers. So this gives me hope for the Virgo Cluster. Maybe when it;s late the Cluster will be positioned just so that I will see those faint little star islands. Ok, I'm real tired, I'm making grammitcal mistkaes along with spelling because I so tied. Plus I habe to do alot of things tomorrow so I will be too busy. Oh and btw I got solme new pcitures of Saturn, Virgo Constellation (Stack), and several attempts at deep-sky objects. OH well, off to bed I go. 

Objects found toiday: 2
1. M65 (Galaxy)
2. M66 (Galaxy)

4/10/11 +1 hour

Just did some Lunar observations today. Clouded up before the stars came out. Today the Z8 becomes the primary scope with an hour's edge.

4/12/11 +1.5 hours for Z8

Finally getting enough time on my hands to do some serious observing (finding new targets). I first started with the moon at ~6:00 when there was still plenty of daylight. I only watched for a few minutes before resuming my daily activities. Finally, when the sun set, I went back to the moon to find once again the Vallis Alpes (A valley my Dad found on 4/10 actually). I also found the long-searched-for straight wall which is aparrently such a big craze in lunar fanatics. It sure was interesting, I must admit. It was hairlike, long, and seemed to carve along the Moon's softer material. I later learned that this 74-mile wall is only visible during today's lunar phase (a day after 1st quarter). After some lunar looking I tried again to find M51 and it's neighbor Sunflower galaxy. I was very disapointed again to not find either of them despite their high declination, and my efforts to practice on star charts. What amazed me was that they were relativley bright 
--About magnitude 8.4 to 8.6 which is strange because the Bode's nebula come right out at me instantly, and on 4/9 I saw M65 and M66, which galaxies are even fainter than these. Oh well, I guess they will remain a mystery. However, at the same time, I made 2 new 'discoveries.' While just surfing through Stellarium, I noticed that M64 (Black-eye Galaxy) and M53 (A globular cluster) were in the facinity of M3, and were relativly easy to find thanks to a V-shaped cluster of stars which pointed down to them both. Following downwards, I found the Black-eye Galaxy M64 with some ease but with some difficulty thanks to it's high 8.5 magnitude (still strange, that this was easier to find than Mag 8.4 M51). Being only a faint candle-light, it was not very interesting as I hoped it to be. After that, I continued downward to find M53, a rather small globular. In the 30mm, the GC was much smaller than M3, and much dimmer at Mag 7.7 (vs M3's 6.4 Mag). With the "bigdog" Vixen 8, the GC was about the same size as M3 through the 30mm. I knew it was a GC not only because of it's location, but after intense observations I began to notice individual stars outshining others. After that, my dad wanted to look at Saturn. So we did. Unfortunetly, since Saturn is still failry low in the sky, there was still intense atmospheric disturbance which shook the image enough to rid detail. During my brief visit I managed to sight 3+ moons, some stripes, and a very small hint of the Cassini division. After noticing that it was 11:00, I packed up. Darn, its already 12:00.

Also, btw, I looked at the sun today and found FIVE (or more?) sunspots compared to the other day's ZERO. Wow, that sun sure is dynamic.

Objects found today: 2
1. M53 (Globular Cluster)
2. M64 (Galaxy)

4/21

Looking at the sun today and found a huge sunspot. Also found about two or three more on the opposite side. According to the space weather website, these sunpsots already exists. Yay! I confirmed a "discovery." The Big one is called 1193 while 1195 and 1196 are capable of forming a solar flare.

4/22

I added another object, designated as NGC 2362. I actually found this object about a month ago but it was never logged. I drew my observations in my blue notebook. I remember, on this night I set to 'discover' new objects not yet found in the sky. I was disapointed to find this already found, apparently by someone in the 1600s.

Also, tomorrow I'm going to Frankenmuth. Going to be looking for the ISS, Lyrid Meteor shower, and some constellations thanks to the bortle 5 skies.

4/23

Turns out I'm not going to Frankmuth because my damn dog is sick all of the sudden, my dad has an ear-infection, and my brother doesn't want to go either. Great. No ISS, no meteor shower and not bortle 5 constellations. Who knows, maybe it was going to be bad anyways because the weather here is still shitty. Maybe next year the conditions will be better. And if I really want to see the ISS I'll just make some plans later when there are not so many disruptions.

Today, with the limited amount of sun we're recieveing, I took out my scope to look at the sun. Found 3 sunspots. 1193 is apparent but has lost dominance to two sunspots that are very close to each other. According to spaceweather, these are 1195 and 1196 'evolved.'

*EDIT* The next day (so I believe) only 1195 and 1196 were visible.

4/26

+20min for Z8

Going to bed soon so this is quick...

It was warm tonight---like 70 degrees. My Dad suggested we look at Saturn under CLEAR skies. So we did for about 20 minutes. Although it was so warm that I could where just a hoodie, the clouds were not agreeing to the terms of a 'good night.' So after about 10 min a haze apeared to settle in. Because of that, we were limited to Saturn only (plus, on the account of time, which was another restriction). Nevertheless, it was good enough to see an old friend after a week of cloudy nights (of course there were plenty of day-time, solar observations) and its companion Titan and a few other moons. Due to the conditions of haze and humidity, some features were less obvious then those found on a perfect night. Although, I was lucky enough to spot a few stripes, atleast 2+ moons, the darker north-pole, and a hint of the Cassini division. Time for bed.

4/29 +1.5 hours Z8

It't not the end of the night for me...

Got home late at midnight after dinner with my grand parents. At home, I was greeted with clear skies. I knew this was going to happen thanks to the TWC (Irony here?), and MI cloud cover** Because it was already 'late,' I decided to take out the scope and go past the "usual suspects" and actually try to observe some new objects. I first started with Saturn. I thought its high declination was going to help, but the image was pretty blurry even after precise collimization. I then moved to M104 to study it's apearence. Looked pretty good tonight. Besides the obvious glow, you can easily make out a dark lane with averted vision. After looking at it for a long time (and with some imagination), M104 starts to resemble what you see in photos. It has a faint bulge, and the lanes do exist. It has a defined, edge-on look. I then looked into the Trio triplet not to find anything. Not suprised but not demoralized, I ventured into the Virgo cluster with the same expectations. Moving on to the new objects, I decided to look for the once misinterpreted M57. Since the Summer constellations were ariving, Vega pointed me to Lyra. Even with some trees in the view, I continued. Going to the bottom 2 stars in Lyra, I found my mistakes from the last time I remember looking (12/10). In my description, I think now that this object was actually a very faint star, because this time, something different happend. In my first search, it took me about 5 minutes to find the object that I thought was M57. This time, it took me 5 secounds to find the object that I knew was M57. With the 30mm, the 9.00 mag object pops out at you with the most direct vision possible. It is bery obvious that this is not a star of anysort. I resembles more of a smooth rock rather than a grain of sand. As I got closer, I resolved more detail, including the objects "ring" apearance. I didn't see the middle white-dwarf, but still. M57 is by far is the most detailed DSO (not including clusters) I have ever observed (so far). However, before M57 I tried the Great Cluster in Hercules. But unfortunetly, an awkwardly-placed cloud randomly swooped over head and covered Hercules. A few minutes after M57, I came back. Just guessing, I assumed a glump of stars in the finder scope would point to M13. I was suprised to find that this WAS M13. How interesting. In my first sights with the 30mm, the cluster was nearly identicle to M3, but possibly larger (and brighter). Jumping up to the Vixen 8, I was nearly floored by the imense detail. With DIRECT vision you could instantly point out individual stars and sort them by brightness. The size doubled, and took up nearly the entire FOV. I was very excited to see this object for the first time, and I truly learned why this was one of the Great Three.

Going back to Saturn, I was suprised already when I was looking for Saturn for my Dad. I noticed slightly brighter images, enhanced clarity, and improved stability. My warning lights really went off when Dad spotted all 4 of today's 'visible' moons in and instant. He also noted sharp features including the stripes. After he was done I looked and I was almost floored again when I saw Saturn's incredible apearance. This was just like that one night from a few weeks back. Extremley clear, no disturbances (low ambient temp), lots of stability. On Saturn I easily noticed the Cassini division, all 4 of the 'visible' moons, various stripes, ring shadows, and atmospheric edges. Incredible, it looked almost like Hubble.

BTW I'm saying I found M57 because the first was a false alarm.

Objects found today: 2
1. M13 (Globular Cluster)
2. M57 (Planetary Nebula)

Also, later at 4AM (if I can stay awake that long), I will get up to see the Great Nebula in Andromeda for the first time with the Vixen 8 and I will also observe it under suitable conditions.

4/30

Fuck I am so pissed at myself. I couldn't get up at 4. Instead I thought it was a good idea to goto bed 15 minutes before 4. "Yeah, I'll just lay down an not goto sleep." What a fucking mistake that was. That was my only chance to see M31 so early because of last night's extremeley rare, unusual clear skies, plus cool air that would have improved contrast due to a lack of atmospheric disturbance. Extremley mad. I had everything out, ready to go too. I hate my body, I just wanted to lay down ant rest for 5 minutes. I didn't even want to sleep. I hate how it overides my intentions. Damnit. I could have even see it with my Vixen 8, which is what I was really hoping for. I blew my only chance, because the weathers going to be shitty again for the next 4 weeks. And plus, I have a ton of studying to do now because of this stupid AP test. Why can't I just take it at the end of the year anyways?

AAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH

*EDIT* I know I shouldn't be mad at msyelf because M31 was invisble to to trees rather.

5/4 (I know I have a test this week but I couldn't resist clear skies) +2 hours Z8

The daunting pursuit of M51 and M63 is finally over. I found them both tonight. I started the night at 10:50. Searching for M51 and M63 became tonight's primary goal when I noticed Ursa Major's high altitude. I aplied my theory from my 'discoveries' of M65 and M66 to M51 and M63: I would have to wait until they were higher in the sky to tell contrast among the galaxies and the night background. At the zenith, the task of finding the 'hopper stars' was challenged by my Dobsonian's nature. After a few back and fourth visits I could not find them until I gained some headway with what is believed to be M94. M94 was in this vacinity, north of the "triangle" (a bunch of bright stars near Ursa Major handle). I didn't know what to make of this at first. M51 or M63? It was hard to tell. The object had a very bright nucleus. Almost starlike, but never came into focus. My parents are comlaining. Going to bed.

Okay, so anyways. According to Stellarium, M94 was the only bright DSO in this vacinity. It won't be added because I could not confirm it. However, I had some good success with actually finding M63 and M51. I found M63 first after this encounter...right where Stellarium said it would be. I think I found this a couple of times already, but I needed to confirm it. No wonder why it was hard to find earlier on. It was pretty faint and required averted vision to get some external details (beyond the nucleus). I had the same experience with M51. It would be something that would require averted vision and careful study of what contrasted in the sky. M51 was a little more interesting. Because of M51's interactions with NGC 5195, M51 did not stand alone. I saw both galaxies in plain sight even without averted vision. Only the central most nucleus was visible in either object, and I'm assuming, thanks to my small scope and the bright lights of Detroit, I did not see the spiral arms or any nebulosity outside the respective centers.
I also looked back into M13. Still can't believe how awesome that cluster looks. I can't describe it. Your better of going to wiki and looking up some photos. But, its more like someone dropping a bunch of sand on a dark slab of asphault. There are alot of stars visible and you can point all of them out between luminosities.
While observing M13, when I looked to change eyepieces, I noticed on the corner of my eye a fast-moving white object. I assumed this to be a meteroite, or a "shooting-star." This makes the second observation of one of these within a week (or two) when I was observing earlier with my dad.

Objects found today: 3
1. M63 (Galaxy)
2. M51 (Galaxy)
3. NGC 5195 (Galaxy)

5/9

No observation notes, just some thoughts. Well right now on Monday I see some cloudy days in the future...and thankfully that only means the sky and not my life. I just got that AP test done with, so things should be pretty smooth and I should have some more time to play around with as long as the weather permits it. I think good days are ahead, and I cannot wait. I've been noticing more and more clear skies during the day (not so much at night) which is good because this gives a chance for it to heat up a little more. I guess we can do some real sessions once we hit 72 degrees at night. Although comfortable, this could be a bad thing for planets, obviously. I have also been giving some more thought to our next telescope(s). I am still firm on the Astromaster 130EQ MD for a number of already known reasons, but I am also thinking about settling for no compromises, meaning I will just buy that and something else in the future. After that I think I'll get my first refractor, which is not the Orion Shortube. It is actually something I seen at Amazon for about the same price. It has the same 80mm lens, but its f-ratio is much larger, which is part of the reason why this is not a compromise between the AM130 and the refractor because I get best of both worlds with each (wide field DSOs, high-power planetary). I know it doen't come with any accessories, but is this really a big deal? No, its just a few dollars more for some rings. As a bonus, I thought this idea would be better anyways because I'll get that EQ mount to use with both scopes for imaging (yes, this will help with the planets you know), while I can use my photographic tripod for casual observing (AM130 for deep sky, Orion 80 for planetary/lunar). Now I just need the money. Looks like were going for around $400...about the same price for my Z8. Because of this price, we might need some funding unless we get a stedy, well-paid job.

5/21/11 +2 hours Z8

So here we are...on the eve of possible destruction. Supposedly its the end of the world today, and at 6AM today a massive earthquake will arrive, and this will pretty much conclude the lives of billions. Who knows, this could be my last entry ever, depending on what happens. I don't want to think it's going to happen, and I don't think it will. I don't know. But anyways if this doesn't happen, then here's some notes.

Started observations with the sun. Found one sunspot. I later learned how to project a sharp image of the sun onto paper without a filter. This actually works better as it delivers crisper images but is not very safe. I even went to screw around and take advantage of my scope's large aperature to burn things. I almost caught a stick on fire, but it smoked good. Paper didn't burn either, so its kinda the same story there. When night fell, it was still hazey (it still is right now). I looked at Saturn. Think I saw 6 moons including Irapateus. I also saw a magnitude 12.29 moon (Enceladus) next to Saturn. So I guess that makes a record? No, not really because DSOs are more to consider because their light isn't concentrated into a single point. Later before goin on, I got some simialr improvements of the image. Cassini division, moons, bands, North cap, planet to disk shadows, and some new, very prominent disk to planet shadows. I got some very good shots of these on the camera. It's almost as good as what I see posted by others with better equipment. I only saw 2 DSOs today: M13 and M57. Due to the haze, fainter objects like M64 and M51 were nearly or completley invisible. So much for that I guess. I noticed the Ring nebula gets fainter as you get closer (observation note), and the haze decreased the size of M13, but did not effect it's incredible star count. Also took some quick 5sec shots for stacking of Lyra/Hercules, and a few 'experimental' shots of what I believe is the center of the Milky Way (O_o).

*EDIT* On Sky and Telescope, they're talking about that storm again. At first it was just a small bit, kinda looking like a drop of cream into some coffee. But now it's a little mixed up, and it apears that the the area has gotten brighter. So pretty much what I'm saying is that I think I saw this last night before packing in. I thought that was just a band, but maybe that was the storm the whole time? Well, it must have been because it was at the North end and according to SaT it will be visible to backyard astronomers like myself.

Well, I guess that's it for tonight. See you later or see you never? We'll just have to see.

5/21/11 @ 5:36 PM.

Well guess what? Nothing happend! By all means am I grateful to continue this expedition of time and space.

Alright, so unfortunetly tonight's gonna be cloudy so TWC says (they could be wrong too), so I won't get any more observation time in. However, I'd just like to report the outcome of some new pictures. Check out Planets/Saturn/Saturn Stack and Stacking/Hercules/5-21 etc to get last nights shots (night of 5/20 to 5/21). I just processed some Saturn shots, meaning that I combined brightness and detail to get a very detailed shot of Saturn at 150x (this time, I had the camera zoomed in "3x" to get the full 150x shot and not some reduction). Yes, this is the real deal. The finest of steadiness, skill, and detemination based on my equipment limitations has brought what I believe to be a monument or a landmark in astrophotography. It really is neat, despite that I often see supperior shots taken by others with better equipment.

Plus, I stacked 11 shots of Hercules (and Lyra too). Due to a repetetive haze overhead, the shots didn't come out as good as some other shots of Ursa Major. Looked like the sky only permited so much starlight that time. Oh well, what can ya do except enjoy what you got? It could have just been cloudy, and could I have gotten any pictures at all.

So yeah, that's all for now.

5/24 + 1 hour, 40 minutes for Z8

Updates for this log today include more stats (most distant object observed/highest magnitude reached). Also, looks like it's gonna be clear tonight (Thank goodness), so I'm planning a session tonight. I haven't thought about finding new objects, but I'll be on the lookout.

Tonight started as it ussually does; Saturn was the first target at around 10:30. Spotted maybe 4 or more moons, a hint of the Cassini division, some bands, but nothing else due to early anti-platentary conditions. Since I was not planning on going back to Saturn, there are no further notes. Tried and failed again in the Virgo cluster. Could not find M87 again, which is a shame because it's bright (at Mag 8.6). Examined M104 again without difficulty. Went to 150x to notice an obvious feature similar to the Spindle galaxy. That reminds me, we tried to find some of these other objects near Virgo including M67 and some other nebulae. The skyglow was too intense for observation here. Revisited M51 and M63 (farthest object I've observed). M51 at the Zenith took time to become a direct object. Until then it was difficult without averted vision. Satisified with galaxies, I moved to M13 (before then I accidentley landed at M3 without effort!). Much better than on 5/21. The clearness made it easier to see. I was alsmost ready to call it a night when I saw some nearby objects. Another bright cluster near Hercules is M92, which in my view is 3/4 to 1/2 the size of M13 when at 150 power. With overcast clouds closing in, I quickly moved on to a NGC object know as NGC 6210, a magnitude 9.0 planetary nebula. I'd thought this would be easy because M57 is also a planetary nebula with the same magnitude. Apparently there are much more figures involved because I could not find the thing. With those clouds calling for a end of my session, I took one look at M57 and brought it in.

Objects found today: 1
1. M92 (Globular Cluster)

5/30 + 1.5 hours

Whoo. An amazing sun today. It's blazing hot, and the sun is very high in the sky today (peak at 69 degrees). I was pretty eager to see what's up, so I setup my scope today without the filter. I used my tripod to hold in place a blank sheet of paper. When the image came into focus (with the 30mm), I was amazed at the number of sunspots. All in all, I counted 16 sunspots. That's right! SIXTEEN! Before today I was lucky to spot as many as 4 or 5, but 16 is amazing! This was all very true, as spaceweather reports very similar sunspots and possible more. Man, I gotta tell ya, this projection system is very much superior to the old home-made filter. The sunspots are very detailed, and you can even see grainage! Yes, that's true too! Very prominent grains are visible towards some sunspots as proven by spaceweather. Yes, it was all very interesting indeed. I did attempt some shots, but they came out rather poorly, as the sunspots are not in focus. I did not spend too much time though on these shots because at that time I was sweating, and in an awkward postion that was very painful to actually get a good shot. It doesn't really matter, I guess the point is that it does work. I might have used the filter today, but I knew for a fact that all it would do would to distort the image, unfocus sunspots, and blur out grainage. Yeah, that's things pretty much useless now since this projection system works much better. However, the only flaws in the system can be fixed rather easily. As of now, I have to clamp the paper into the angle adjuster, which bends the paper and also disrupts the image. Tracking can also be a pain as I constantly have to adjust the tripod as well as the telescope itself. This can be fixed by a custom rig that attatches to the scope while holding a large piece of paper or cardboard. Although it fixes tracking and inconvienice, some problems still remain but are not immediatly threatening (such as sunglasses, which are required to drown the extreme brightness, and tracking the sun). 
With that, I'm looking forward to a restriction-free night of serious observing. I'll be looking for some new stuff, while enjoing clear skies and warm temperatures (in the 70's!).

Have to make this quick because I'm supposed to be in bed right now. Things didn't go so well. Although it was warm and clear, it was very muggy, insect-infested, and 'hazey' due to a very high humidity. As a result, few stars were visible, and constellations were hard to make out. As a matter of fact, Corvus was barley visible even with averted vision. Yes, it's that bad. Though shitty, Saturn was great as usuall even with 300x (tried the 4mm tonight). False color reduced the awe but alot was still visible. More on that later. Went to M92 and retried NGC 6210. To my asstonishment, what I thought was a star was actually the object. It was star-like, but would not focus. Looked as if a star had 'hairs.' After this amazement, I made a comitment to find atleast 2 more new objects tonight because it seems that I'm not getting many new findings recently. I learned a lesson today. Never try to look for new objects with just an hour left. This was learned when I frantically skipped some clusters and moved to what I thought would be an easy task. It was not easy. This new object, M101, was another grand-design spiral similar to M51, minus a satallite galaxy. I was assuming this magnitude 7.7 galaxy would be an easy find; just another "Ah ha!" and another Messier object in the sack. I was really wrong. Using some very obvious stars for star-hopping, I was amazed that this object did not apear when I navigated freely in the vacinity or even when I pinpointed it's exact position in-between. Once again, I was limited to the Dobsonian's awkward nature when looking up at the zenith. It was hard to navigate and tough to wrap you mind around an opposing dimension. I think I may have seen a extemely small glimpse on the corner on my eye, but I can't be sure because at this time the pressure to pack up was playing tricks on my mind. With that failure, I went in. 

But before I admit this to be a default, I have to support this result with M101's design. Mind you, it is a grand-design, and like M51, it is very hard to pinpoint because all that light is spread out (you'll be looking for something star-like to find it). Plus, with all that humidity, even the ceiling today was orange, which made it pretty dificult even to lock on stars. I bet a dark sky would allow some better observations, as well as a much needed narrow-band filter. So yes, I didn't get a confirmed sighting, but this will be good practice for my planned Up North 2011 trip planned in June/July.

And just another thought, the night wasn't so bad after all since we legibly tracked down our first NGC object.

Objects found today: 1
1. NGC 6210 (Planetary Nebula)

6/1/11 +2 hours for Z8

Darn, I wish I could have put in these notes earlier, but I've been just too damn busy I guess. Alright, I'll try my best to recall the events of June 1st...Ok, I do remember trying again to find M101. At first, I think I said I did find it, just for the sake of taking it of my mind. However, later, I did some research and found that M101 is actually very demanding despite it's low magnitude. I guess my hypothesis is correct; The object is invsisible due to the object's large size. Brightness, although low magnitude, is spread over a large area, making it a very difficult to observe. Wiki says you will need very dark skies, a low-power eyepiece, and a powerful telescope. Some message boards even confirm this, saying it is difficult to find. Therfore, I will revoke my unconfirmed discovery of M101 because this will be a darker-skies object, which is any object invisible in my bright skies. Though M101 is now reserved for darker skies, I did get some headway in finding new objects. I recall, at about 30 to 12:00, Scorpius was high enough in the South-East that I found 2 Globular Clusters in the vacinity of Anteres. 
<Descriptions for these clusters>
M4: Although this object apears to be the brighter of itself and M80 in terms of app. magnitude, M4 seems to be more of a blob than M80. M80 has it's light compressed into a small space. Even at 150x mag, M80 was atleast a quarter of the size of M13. M4 could easily be half the size of M13. More stars can be readily observed in M4, as they surround a faint smudtge of grey. Few stars are present, and they take careful averted vision to see. M80 is the opposite, with the apearence of a small, faint white-blob. No stars are readily visible to the naked eye or averted vision.
<End>
With those two Gloculars, I also ventured deeper into the heart of the Milky Way, searching for brilliant nebulae such as Lagoon or Trifid. These were not visible at the time, but I stumbled on a obvious open cluster named the "Butterfly Cluster," or Messier 6. This object had stars in the formation of wings, so from where it gets its name. The night ended with a call to go to bed.

By the way, I actually came out this night just to get some needed observing time with Saturn. I'm glad I did. Conditions were great, which allowed that "wow factor" in which my Dad actually came up with the night before. Saturn was very clear, as the Cassini Division was an obvious feature. The dark hexagon on the North of Saturn was also a stunning feature, although the shape itself was not particulary investigated. Bands were very apparent. I noted the storm on due North of Saturn's equator. Shadows were also evident, displayed on the planet, and behind on the rings.

Objects found today: 3
1. M4 (Globular Cluster)
2. M80 (Globular Cluster)
3. M6 (Open Cluster)

6/2/11 +2 hours for Z8

Okay, these notes should be easier because this was last night.

Came out pretty early at 10:15 to get some observation time with my favorite galaxy M104. Like I've said before, if you look at this object long enough, it resembles what you see in photos. And last night I gave my left eye to become super-dark adapted. Putting in 150x, this is where the fun begins. That 30mm just isn't good enough to gather all the details. Anyways, as I can see, M104 has an obvious disk shape to it, on an angle. Using averted vision, a faint bulge is apparant at certain times while moving the scope around. Looking to the sides, it seems some wings sprout from the center into sharp ends of the galaxy. After 5 straight minutes of using averted vision, and moving the telescope, a dark line is very faint but moves with the object. This is beleived to be the dark lane. I guess all of this is incredible. Why? We're looking under bright, urban skies next to one of the biggest cities in the country. So though we're under Bortle 8, it's more like observing in 8.5 because we go through the class 9 skies on the way there.
Besides M104, I visited two friends in Ursa Major: Bode's nebulae. I think they should be considered any amateur astronomer's friend because they are easy to spot even under poor conditions. Now in mid-spring, Bode's nebulae are confortable to observe due to there declination. Thankfully, they are just in between my house and my colossal tree in the backyard, meaning I don't have to put me or my telescope on display and I can enjoy a dark environment without that annoying street-light. M81 and M82 are actually inverted now, with them on different sides. M82, to the left in the eyepiece, is a smudge but has that cigar shape and even some texture. M81 is star-like, with a very bright central nucleaus.
After these fine observations, I tried to find some new objects (bad idea). It was late, but I tried anyway to find Cat's Eye Nebula and Messier 108. Both were invisible and I'll tell you why. M108 was just straight-up too faint to see (Mag 10.1), while Cat's Eye was large with a high magnitude... 

<!!> Just realized a relationship: Take 3 Planetary nebulae. All are Magnitude 9.0, and have different sizes. NGC 6210 is the smallest, M57 half way, and Cat's Eye the largest. NGC 6210 is small but is star-like, and easily visible. M57 is larger, and fainter and takes time to study. Cat's Eye is the largest and barley visible if not invisible. <!!>

I'm designating M108 and the unmentioned M97 for darker skies.

6/12/11 +30 mins Z8

Gotta make this quick cuz I've got finals this week. Took a quick look at objects M57, M13, and NGC 6210. I tried to look at M51, but didn't have luck. Guess it's too fain and too diffuse for tonights moon-lit skies. Tonights conditions were good though (temp, wind, humidity and even the smell of backyard fires), but it was a little hazy. So M51 was very hard to find, and if best I may have saw a glimpse. M57 was great, M13 pretty good, and NGC 6210 was hard to find but it had an obvious blue or dark green hue. No planetary or lunar observations tonight.

*EDIT*

Wow! Just realized that this is my 1st year anniversery in this log! One full year of stargazing! I look forward to many more years to come!

Combining my hours, I have spend over 80 hours of stargazing! That's 3.4 days worth of straight stargazing!

6/13 +1 hour for Z8

Ventured into the Milky Way today. But first started tonight's observations with the newly-emerging Double-Cluster in Cassiopeia. It was a little hard to find due to its low declination, but I did find it and I was supprised at the detail even under moon-lit skies. I then moved the telescope into the backyard. I looked to the famed 'Albireo' binary pair that gets so much praise. Wow! it was pretty cool, with those two stars contrasting so much. The yellow star was a little bigger than the blue. I didn't find the other binary in the yellow star. Took a glance at M57 for a second or two. Ok. Next! Noticed that the Milky Way would probably be high enough for some observations of nebulae and some clusters. Holy wow, even under bright, moon-lit skies, I could not even count the stars in this vacinity. Under any step of power it seemed that there was always a constant number of stars in the FOV. I also stumbled on M8, the Lagoon Nebula. A bit suprised at first, because I was mistaken this as being a open cluster instead. As soon as I noticed a small cloud of green, I knew I found one of the great nebulae in the Milky Way. I also supspect spotting the Trifid Nebula, but it will hard to be sure until the moon goes away. With all of those clusters and nebulae, I can only think that up north is gonna be incredible. By the way, I think 65 degrees or less is alot better than the previous 72 degrees temperature. Hopefully this morning I can awake early enough at around 4 AM once again to look at M31 with my Z8. No crap, I actually left the mount outside and I have the OTA sitting on the couch and the eyepieces on the table. Don't know how I'm gonna pull it off, but its worth a try.

BTW: Tonight's conditions were pretty good. Even under a Waxing gibbous, most of the stars in Lyra were visible, so this was probably one of the best nights so far with an estimated sky brightness of about mag 4.3 - not bad based on the stars in Lyra.

Objects found today: 1
1. M8 "Lagoon" (Nebula)

*EDIT*

I guess my autosomatic systems are just too overwhelming. As soon as that alarm clock went off, I shut it off, tried to get up, but I fell right back asleep. I was tired; I took some finals and I went to a baseball game.

6/16 +2 hours for Z8

Yay! Summer vacation! Hopefully now I can spend more hours and get more nights in. Today I actually took up this goal starting at 10:30 or so. Started at Scorpius with attempts to find some of the globulars. Didn't find M4 tonight, because tonight's conditions were not that good with skies at about mag 3.6 or higher. Found M80 by accident when I first thought it was NGC 5897. In Stellarium I noticed M5 just off of Virgo. This took some time, because the stars leading to the Globular are very faint to the naked eye, but it was found within minutes. Good detail, stars resolved at high power well. Noticed some strange areas of stars that 'branched' out of the cluster. After studying this facinating object, I moved onto a somewhat familiar galaxy near Ursa Major: M94. Before I was unsure because this object looked very starlike and at the time it was too uncomfortable to study the object in detail. After using the double star Cor Caroli as a guide, the galaxy apeared quickly with both averted vision and direct. Suprised to find this was actually a Spiral galaxy instead of an Elliptical. No arms were clearly seen, but were suggestable. Mostly visible was a very bright nucleaus, closley resemebling an orangish star. I thought this would a good reason to look for M106. Didn't have any luck. Although it had a very close magnitude to M94, the galaxy was invisible even with averted vision, probably because of the larger size (light spread out more) than M94. I guess M106 is going to be designated as a darker skies object.

No Moon or Planetary obserbations tonight.

Hopefully this night will not end just now, because Dad does not have work. This means that he can go out; Mom won't bitch that I'm up early at 3AM. I will try to find the Great Nebula in Andromeda, if the weather permits. And even tomorrow I'm hoping that the skies will be clear enough that we can take the Z8 to Metro...where skies are slightly darker when aiming away from Detroit.

Objects found today: 2
1. M5 (Globular Cluster)
2. M94 (Galaxy)

Whoo! Finally saw Andromeda for the first time this year with the Z8. Unluckly, it was kinda hazey and the full moon was still lurking at 3:30AM. M31 was a large bulge even at 40x power. I still can't be sure, but I did look for both of Andromeda's companion galaxies, finding what I believe is M110 (already listed as found). Oh well. Since it was late and very creepy (cop chases, gun shots, etc), Dad and I looked at the Moon just before the clouds came in...I'm glad I woke early instead of 4:00. Otherwise, I would have had only 30 minutes to wake up, setup, and observe both objects before the clouds rolled in...not fun. Also got some pictures in too, one Maximum photo (30s, ISO400) and ten 7s ISO100 shots stacked. Didn't get much but a small star-like object. Beats nothing though I guess. Still looking forward to better seing.

6/17 +2.5 hours for Z8

Holy damn, today was an awesome day. After some jetskiing today I took out the scope at about 10 o'clock after unexpectantely finding clear skies above. Didn't try to find anything new because of the moon, but looked at Saturn, M13, and NGC 6210. Saturn was not close to be best nights I've had. Maybe summer time isn't really the best time to look at planets though. Most features were visible, but the image together was fuzzy at some times. Tried 300x with the 4mm...that didn't work out too well! Anyways, moved onto M13 after some confusion with the night sky. I then went to NGC 6210 where I have noticed a very prominent blue or dark green shade to the nebula. Intriguing. Overall I'd say it was a fair night even considering the wanning gibbous moon and some haze that actually cut my observing time short tonight. Tonight's sky magnitude just barley peaked at 4.30 with averted vision before the moon rose.

BTW: Tomorrow we're ordering the Barlow lense from Hayneedle (the Zhumell one)! Very excited to test it out.

6/26 +2.5 hours for Z8

Yeah, its been almost 10 days since my last update and there is alot to fill in since then. In the time being I began (and finished) my starcharts for up North, which consists of 30 galaxies, 14 nebulae, and 8 clusters (not including objects not listed but however apear on starcharts). I think the pack is about 45 or more pages, and I had to split the charts into 3 groups -- one pack for Notes and lists plus last year's charts, one packet for galaxie charts, and one more packet for nebulae/cluster charts. So far they have been very useful in finding objects without having to run back and fourth to stellarium and risking my dark adaption. Unfortunetely the trip to up North might have to be post-poned later due to weather, because according to TWC, Curran will be storming and raining on the 1st and 2nd. Even the 3rd will be partly cloudy. Sigh...I dunno yet.
As far as the barlow goes, which btw sorry I never mentioned, just arrived a few days ago but I had to wait for a week of clouds and rain to leave. Tonight I got plenty of time to test the barlow on Saturn and I think even on some DSOs (can't remember atm). The quality is exceptional for just $50, and it did double my EP collection despite the negagtive input from the Vixen 8. Sure, I was a little disapointed when hitting 300x. The quality was similar to the little 4mm and maybe worse, and there was not alot of quality to see. This is understandable however, because after all that 8" Dob is only rated for 300 power. I know that barlow works good anyways, because every other EP got 2x closer and had excellent quality/brightness (depending on magnification), but my best guess that I hit the limits of this scope. I could speculate that if I had a 10" or 12" scopn..not bad for $50.
Did I mention that tonight was awesome? Yeah, there was no moon visible all night, and I think we got mag skies as dark as 5.0 tonight with DIRECT vision. Great stuff out, very clear, cool, low humidy, calm winds...almost a perfect night except my bed-time limitations. I bet I would still be out right now if I was allowed. M13 was too high to find with that goofy Dobsonian mount. Explored the Sagittarius region first with Lagoon Nebula. Suprised not to find anymore nebulosity than on the night of discovery. Uh, M22 was most interesting tonight. I have to say that at 80x (no barlow), this little cluster looks better than M13 when you study it enough...on the outside it's almost an open cluster, with a faint bulge in the very center. Trifid nebula was not impressive with all nebulosity absent...same with Eagle nebula (except only for a small cluster visible). The only nebula that was interesting (even more than M8) was actually the Omega nebula. Man, that was pretty sweet. Just sticking at 40x, that nebula is fairly large, about 1/5 the size of M42 with only a little green oval shape visible with direct/averted. That M25 open cluster was admirable for a minute or two, as well as some other objects not described in this update.

BTW: Me and my Dad saw the ISS!! While confirming a sighting of M51, I saw that it would pass over the house, under Ursa Major. I saw this for about 15 seconds...it was brighter than Sirius, before it dimmed out rather quickly.

Note: Some objects will not be claimed to have been "found," but will be listed anyways because they are of a very close proximity to a "found" object. Ex - Lagoon Nebula has a small NGC cluster inside, which will be listed but not "found."

Objects found today: 5
1. M17 "Omega" (Nebula)
2. M22 (Globular Cluster)
3. M21 (Open Cluster)
4. M25 (Open Cluster)
5. M16 (Cluster only) <-- Only the cluster will be listed, the nebulosity known as IC 4703 will not be logged until it is observed.

6/28 +4 hours for Z8

Well, my longest session so far...4 hours since 10:00 on 6/28. You expect me to write about all of it? Hell no, I'm too tired. I guess the most important thing to mention is that the up North trip won't be up north due to typical Michigan weather - Raining, cold, and-----wait, you already know this story. Anyways, we're just going to Wamplers...which is only class 5 at best. So that's right. No fantastic milky way, no 200 billion stars visible to the eye. Atleast I'll be able to stay up two nights (if weather permits). As far as tonight went it was great. Viewed Saturn, owned the Whirlpool galaxy and its companion (went up to 150x on it), and checked out those new nebulae in center of the milky way. Really enjoing the Summer stars. Familiar constellations from last year are very comforting. Used those starcharts to find new objects including Dumbbell Nebula. Very interesting. It seemed to be a large, green fuzz ball with a dark line running diagnoly. M71 was kinda disapointing. Really faint for a Globular. The Blinking Planetary was doubtful at first, but after I saw a fuzz disapear, I was amazed. That was really cool, how it hides behind a star with direct vision, but blinks open when you look away (Averted vision). I showed Dad all of these except M71 because I knew he wouldn't be impressed as I was not. I also forgot to show him M8. Oh well, it will look better at Wamplers. Wanted to find some new objects near Cassiopeia, but the trees were in the way. Going to bed notw.

Objects found today: 3
1. M27 Dumbell (Nebula)
2. M71 (Globular Cluster)
3. NGC 6826 "Blinking Planetary" (Nebula)

7/01	+6.5 Hours for Z8

Back from Wamplers. Well, things sure were supprising. Good weather the first night, and man the milky way was very impressive. It was structered almost with veins along the Sagittarius region. Just randomly going through the milky way with the Z8 was thrilling. Uncountable stars like I've said before, but as my Dad describes, "like a web." But anyways, we started by *trying* to capture the ISS on camera. That didn't turn out so good because I had to get everything out by myself (Dad didn't help). There was confussion. There was a bright objcet incoming away from where it was expected to be. Then, another bright object apeared after I moved on with other equipment to start stargazing. Oh well, atleast I got a few shots of it that night and the next (the last night was the best for ISS).

We started out with Saturn as we normally do. Suprised that it looked pretty good. I guess the absence of cities allows for skies lacking soot and all those other ugly particles. I'm really starting to think that the Vixen 8 needs a clean. The Vixen 15 with barlow is a little sharper and clearer as it seems. Moved onto the fuzzies starting out with M51. Holy shit! The Whirlpool Galaxy was very bright -easily a direct vision object. Obvious nebulosity was found outside the nucleaus. That disk most likely consists of the spiral arms. I bet if I had a bigger scope and darker skies I think the arms would be detectable. M101 was visible for the first time, as it was invisible despite it's magnitude of 7.70. I had the same experience with all of the other DSOs that are invisible in the backyard. Owl nebula was a small, green-blue ball, as well as M108 being in the FOV at the same time. Both fairly bright. Looked through the Virgo cluster, but decided not to try and point out each individule galaxy (yes, I made out atleast 5 at a time) due to time restrictions. The Leo triplet was easily visible for the first time, with all 3 galaxies visible. Glanced at M104 real quick to find it a bit bigger than normally with a very obvious dark lane (remember, the lane needs averted vision here) horizontally. Could not get to the Coma Cluster or any other object near Coma Berenices for time reasons. Tried to get Stephan's Quintet late, but this was not very successful although I think they might have been faintly visible (remember, they are mag 12.7 to 13.6 and my scope's limit is around 13 or 14 in terms of STAR magnitude) M102, the Spindle galaxy (looks awesome in pictures) was a little of a blow. Yeah, I saw it, but it wasn't very impressive. I think the other Spindle galaxy (aka Needle galaxy NGC 4565) would have been a bit more interesting. The other Leo group (M95, 96, 105) was suprising despite my random guess at pointing the scope where I thought they were.

In terms of nebulae, Lagoon was atleast 4x larger, and the Omega 2/3 larger. Saw nebulosity in M20 and M16 for the first time. I think a Oxygen-III filter is needed to see those pillars though. M57 seemed to be clearer, and a bit brighter too. Suprised to find the mag 12.0 M76 Little Dumbbell nebula. Very small, and not alot of interesting features. Saw the Blue Snowball, but I think that could be seen even here as with every other small planetary.

Saw only a handful of clusters, finding the 13.2 billion year-old Messier 15, and being blasted by the blinding light of the Great Cluster in Hercules. Yes, it was extremely bright. I wish I could have gotten an extra glance at it before I moved on. It was huge, going outside my Vixen's large 65 degree FOV at 150 power. Stars could be pointed out easily just by looking at it for one second. Double Cluster had a considerable increase in number of stars. M71 still boring. Could not find M10 or M12 that night (didn't want to).

The second night started out good when I successfully photographed the ISS transit while LOOKING at the ISS with my telescope with 40 power. I saw the solar panels and the middle part of it. Bright and fast. Tracked it for 25 or 35 seconds before it disapeared behind the trees. Glad I did, because apparently that's the last transit for a long time.

BTW, I just bought a TELRAD (yes it must be Caps) so I'm looking forward for testing whenever possible. Installing it soon.

Objects found during the session(s): 17
1. M101 (Galaxy)
2. M106 (Galaxy)
3. M108 (Galaxy)
4. M109 (Galaxy)
5. NGC 3628 (Galaxy)
6. NGC 7331 (Galaxy)
7. M95 (Galaxy)
8. M96 (Galaxy)
9. M105 (Galaxy)
10. M102 Spindle Galaxy (Galaxy)
11. M20 Trifid Nebula (Nebula)
12. IC 4703 Star Queen Nebula (Nebula)
13. M97 Owl Nebula (Nebula)
14. NGC 7662 Blue Planetary (Nebula)
15. M76 Little Dumbbell (Nebula)
16. M15 (Globular Cluster)
17. M32 (Galaxy) 

7/10

I really think that I have gotten spoiled after going to Wamplers lake under those darker skies. There have been atleast 2 clear nights here at home, but only one of them I decided to take out the Dob...but that was limited to viewing Saturn and the Moon. M51 was nearly invisible, and M13 was a ghost of what was seen at Wamplers. Well because I concluded that these bright skies are all of the sudden unsuitable for Deep Sky Viewing I went back to Wamplers for a one-night session at the camp site. I was suprised by results only after the moon set at around 1:30AM. Until that time I can easily say that the skies were so bright, they were easily comparable to the best night I've ever witnessed here at home. During that time I wasn't impressed with M51 as I was the last time, and same with M13. I did not look back at them even when the moon set...I wish I could have but by that time M51 was too low and I was hurried to find objects I missed the first time through. That went okay, but still ran into trouble especially when I realized my star-charts were not up to the task. Since I can't use WORD to manually adjust the charts, I had to settle with automaticly aligned charts that were so low resolution that most objects were a pain to look for and most didn't even show up. Thankfully I planned for this ahead as I knew I had "unfinished buisness in Stephan's Quintet." A close up of the galaxy group allowed my to zero in exactely where they were, and so doing I managed to find the brightest mag 12.7 galaxy that is, according to sources, not even apart of the cluster. Oh well, I was glad to find it...maybe I set some new records. Also took some pictures and found some other new objects. Most notable was NGC 6946 and the nearby open cluster. Through the 30mm I was provided with a wide field of view that allowed both objects to be seen at once. Most impressive was the fact that NGC 6946 was actually a Grand-design spiral meaning it was a very diffuse object (but still visible). Perhaps the biggest blow was unsuccessfully finding Veil and Iris Nebula. I know for a fact that the star chart for Iris was most likley the reason for failure as nearby stars were very hard to find on the chart. The charts for Veil were fine, but maybe they were invisible just because they are that diffuse and are true dark-sky objects requiring borlte level below 5. Overall the night was good but still unfavorable with a wonderous moon (that didn't want to go the bed too soon), lots of dew (btw the new 92mm CPU fan works great and uses power from my Dad's battery he just bought), tons of mosquitoes, and clouds that rolled in around 4:30 AM. Jupiter was a pleasing suprise as it rose unexpectantely quickly and looked fair even at very high power (went up to 600x and still didn't lose brightness). And yes the TELRAD worked wonderfully but needed to be cooled with my fan because it kept getting submerged in dew every 10 seconds.

Objects found during the session(s): 7
1. NGC 7320 (Galaxy)
2. "Wild Duck Cluster" M11 (Open Cluster)
3. M26 (Open Cluster)
4. M34 (Open Cluster)
5. NGC 6946 (Galaxy)
6. NGC 6939 (Open Cluster)
7. M103 (Open Cluster)

*EDIT*
Check out my latest stacked masterpiece! The Milky Way as seen in 15 shots stacked! Nebulosity is incredible!

*EDIT*
No "+ time" for the Z8?? I'll add 3 hours to be fair.

7/15 +1 hour for Z8

So after 5 days of borredom I finally took out the scope on a clear night...wasn't suprised that M51 is still invisible with the near-full Moon. Its absence forces a strong desire to return to Wamplers again (that's not the only reason however, if ya know what I mean). Anyways, I was suprised to find M57 easily even though its high declination makes it a difficult object. Took M57 up to 266 power hoping to spot the central star...can't be sure under these skies. The ring itself was hard to resolve too. After that I was amazed at spotting two famous double star systems. The first was actually the Double-Double in Lyra, where two stars in the finder scope are actually two pairs of binarys as seen at 150 power. That was pretty cool. The left were vertical, and the righ horizontal...very impressive. Also took a glance at Albireo. At low power it is still very easy to establish good contrast between the two. So that's it. New discoveries cannot be made until the Moon goes away.

Also worthy of a note was the quick half-hour session with the Old Celestron Toy. Because I was too tired (lazy) to get it out, I just put the little 3" on my tripod. I was shocked to see remarkable images of the moon despite the small FOV and uncomfort. A rough collimation job boosted every quality, enough to get me to Saturn, where at 75x I was just barley able to spot some features around the rings. I think, that scope could have been alot better if they just gave it better EPs, a longer focal length, and tripod compatibility. Otherwise however, I still cannot see any value left in it even enough to add some observation time for it.

BTW, hopefully in the next days I can really start to get things going for the planned Up North trip that so far never happened. On the 28th, we'll have another New Moon, so let the skies be clear! 

7/24

It seems like I am very lucky this time. Dad just happens to have the weekend off on the new moon interval, so we planned the Up North trip. Due to his cheap nature, the original plan by his idea was to stay at Lexington...blah, who cares? More bortle 5 skies? No, this time I got lucky because not only will weather be good, but Lexington was totally booked for this weekend. Therefore, the only Northern Solutions were "Sleepers" and "Port Crescent" parks (both being on the North thumb of MI). Port Crescent was booked also, but there was still one spot left at Sleepers. What are the odds huh? Anyways, I'm really excited because these skies will be darkest I think I will see this year (because Curran was cancelled for this year), and if there are any important objects to note, they will have to be found here. So far it looks like conditions are good, as the weather will be mostly clear to clear over the two nights I'll be staying. Plus, it won't be too uncomfortable as we are expecting around 68 degrees (which is perfect for obvious reasons). Most importantly, the Moon will be away on both nights which is vital for true dark skies (as I've learned at Wamplers). At this classification (bortle 3 at best), I'm hoping to find some of the fainter DSOs such as Veil Nebula, a revisit to Stephan's Quintet, several diffuse nebulae, and maybe an attempt at IC 1101 (I'm not joking, I have serious ambition for finding this object despite it's near-15th magnitude). If I've learned anything from the Wamplers trips, it's that I have to be prepared for the worst, and I'm going to have to revise my starcharts (ex. Stephan's Quintet starchart pt.2 that, as being a close-up, enabled me to discover the faint mag 12.7 blob assumed to be NGC 7320). Also considering starcharts, I might add some more objects, but they need to be limited because it's already bad enough that I can't even get to half of the objects originally listed. Some of these objects will be planets actually, including Neptune, Uranus and the popular asteroids known as Vesta and Ceres.

7/25 +1.5 hours for Z8

Finally got an ideal night right here at home. Conditions were good, as forecasted by the Clear Sky Chart that I just learned how to read today, and proven by the apearence of M51. A quick word for M51: Although the Detroit lights were a burrden for optimal viewing, the faint blob remains a spectacle sight when paired with its companion galaxy. It was visible at magnifications 40 and 80 powers with weak nebulosity confined to the central nuclae. Even more enthriling was the sight of the Great Cluster in Hercules, which considering the skies average brightness, was rather bright even up to 150 power. After a quick glance at M27 and some double stars I began to feel a little bored. I felt the same as I did at Metro last year when I realized I was restricted to only so many objects. I guess the thrill of finding so many objects at Wamplers somehow spoiled my 'appetite' for stargazing. Unfortunetly, I don't think the Up North trip will help, in the long term. I finished up the night with an interesting view of the Blinking Planetary. I will note here that the nebula apears very blue at low power, accelerating to a whitish hue as magnification increases. Also interesting is that the blinking effect is only noticeable at medium powers ~40 to 80, and limited at 150.

BTW, star charts are going smooth so far. I have atleast 15 new candidates (subject to edits and elimination) which will replace and improve the current low-res charts. Though these new charts are still formated the same, the close-ups should improve our experiences for sure.

7/26 	+1 hour for Z8 (morning)
	+2 hours for Z8 (night)

Woke up early today to view the morning planets. Could not find Neptune today, but I bet it will be better Up North anyways. Most notable was Jupiter. It is high enough in the sky that it can be viewed with superb detail. I'm glad I woke early today because I just happened to encounter an eclipse on Jupiter's surface due to Io's transit. Through the hour I tracked the dot moving right to left very slowly before packing my telescope inside the camper (reminder: the EPs are in the OTA) just before 6AM. Also visible were two other interesting features. I believe I saw the GRS for the first time; it was a small feature that lacks easy contrast between the band it is embedded in and the whiteness around it. It takes imagination and real thought to believe, and really take notice of such a faint object. The second object however, is even more of a mystery. Along the North EQ Belt I noticed a dark spot. This could not be an eclipse, according to the moons and their positions (proven true by Celestia). It must have been a less popular feature comparable to the GRS, which according to Celestia, was in transit across the surface of the planet at the time. That's my speculation of the two, and by all means I cannot be certain because even Celestia might have outdated textures of planets that inacuratly display (atmospheric) features over time. 

*EDIT* It was Uranus that I was actually looking for, not Neptune.

Mars still has some time to go until it can be viewed regularly at morning times. Moving at just 0.11 degrees per day, I don't think it will be observable (in my backyard) until mid August. However, any sort of a flat area (no trees) will harbor a considerable viewing site for morning observations.

Greeted later tonight with some more exceptional conditions comparable to last night. Have to say I didn't feel that boredom that I felt the other night because I kept myself busy tonight...not only by searching for new objects and visiting some less popular objects, but also working on my latest updates for star charts. They are coming out well to say the least. I am adding some extra detail with a pencil btw (info about nearby objects, notes, page numbers, etc). As far as nightly observations go, I found M10 and M12 with ease after a unsuccessful visit to NGC 6946 and it's 'neighbor' open cluster. I noticed M10 and M12 are very faint Clusters probably due to the close proximity to the Detroit lights. Out of the two, I can easily say M10 was the brighter, with stars easily resolvable with averted vision. NGC 6946 and the cluster were invisible suggesting they are strictly for darker skies (class 5 as a minimum). Showed Dad and myself the Wild Duck Cluster (aka M11), which is nothing next to its original apearence at Wamplers (it was bright enough to classify as a Globular)...however it was still impressive. Tried to familiarize myself with some new constellations such as Aquarius and Capricornus, which will be important for the upcoming trip where in them they contain the outer planets and the asteroid Vesta. The last object of the night was M15, the 13.2 billion year-old cluster, which apears to much brighter than M10 and or M12. Stars were easy to resolve with direct vision and the central nuclei was very bright. A good night that was accompanied by two fast-flying shooting stars, the first of which was bluish in color over the south. The second was whitish and traveled a smaller distance. This was noticably brighter and in the same direction, however seemed to be higher in declination.

BTW I also attempted to find 'Barnard's Galaxy.' Not suprised to find it, as wiki says it's mostly invisible under bright skies (plus it is very diffuse).

Objects found today: 2
1. M10 (Globular Cluster)
2. M12 (Globular Cluster)

7/27	+1 hour for Z8 (morning)

Did more morning observations today starting with yet more confussion and frantic about the ISS. Yes, though I had 20+ minutes to wake up and setup, there was still confusion as the whereabouts of exactley where it would cross. Would it pass in the South, or more East? Plus, I got into even more panic when I realized that it would transit 20 minutes BEFORE what I was expecting, because what I was expecting was the old transit time from yesterday, and somehow my brain kept thinking that instead of 4:52AM. I immediatley ran out the house after realizing this mistake, but I still got the shot because I just happened to have the camera set up at the perfect spot. A 30s exposure reveals nearly the entire trail of light which is always impressing. I also tried to observe it with the telescope but that wasn't totally ready yet so by the time I jammed the EP in and estimated it's position it was only about 3 degrees away from the treeline, in which it disapeared shortly after. I hope one day I will be able to take an exposure without any panic or frustration while I peacefully watch the ISS dance across the sky. ---> :P

After that incident I put my new star charts to the test as I searched for the planet Uranus. It seems my "Wide to Zoom" style star charts are working very well. The Wide allows me to center focus to a nearby Constellation, while the Zoom lets my find the target by starhopping off of local asterisms that drift off the constellation. This method really works and I found the pale-blue planet in just a couple of minutes (Note: I did encounter a little frustration as I often assumed incorrect asterism scales). I was really suprised at both it's distance and what I saw through the EP. Since it is ~19 AU away, Uranus is probably twice as far away as Saturn, and even Saturn requires high power to view with comfort. As a result, even the (cheap) 6mm combined with barlow got me next to nowhere (about 400x). Still, I was impressed with the planet by it's unusual color and distance, which led me to ponder the vast scale of not only the Solar System, but beyond. If there is anything I've leaned, it's that I shouldn't trust Stellarium with Planet visisbility, because according to that, it would take me over 600 power to see the planet itself. However, the planet was plainly visisble as a small sphere at just 80 power. Also, I shouldn't expect the same views for Neptune or maybe even the asteroids Vesta and Ceres because they might be smaller and even fainter.

My morning observations ended with a splended look at Juptier again, where I encountered a facinating display of its moons (in which a parallax was easy to distinguish between Io and Ganymeade) and stripes. At all (medium to high) powers I was able to resolve great detail on the bands themselves which seemed like they were "torn up" like dark rags ripped at the edges and wrapped around the planet. Another dark spot was visible on the NEB, but it was not the same (like the one from 7/26) as it was not above the GRS (not visible today). A less notable, but still interesting feature I discovered was a peculiar "rippling" at the North and South ends of the planet (mainly the white areas). They apeared as small black spots that were nearly impossible to resolve. They were only visible with averted vision. I observed at just about all powers including 40, 80, 150, 160, 266, 300, and 600. I took a couple shots at 150 power in hopes to create a masterpiece similar to the 'Saturn Stack.jpg' -- a badly needed picture that is in question (how come Saturn, a farther planet looks better in picutures that Jupiter).

7/31	+6.5 hours for Z8 (Coincidence??)

Came back from the Up North trip today. Overall the escape from the Detroit lights was a success with 12 new objects the first night, 1 more the second, and atleast 20 shooting stars visible combined from both nights. Indeed, the trip was well worth the wait, but it is fairly obvious to observe that the amount of success was highly emphasized on the first night. I have to say that the first night at Thompson Park (A public, roadside park) was probably the best session I've ever had so far despite a lower count of new objects. The best reason why is because dew was not a problem. Since we set up near the shoreline, a consistant breeze was able to cool all of the equipment as the temp dropped through the night. The first object of the night was my favorite galaxy in Ursa Major -- M51 Whirlpool Galaxy. Since we were located at a Borlte 3 site, M51 presented more than just nebulosity around the nuclea (yes, both). At medium power I was able to discern some faint spiral arms rotating around the 'disk' at certain points. There also seemed to be a fainter bridge connecting NGC 5195 with its partner too. The second object was M13. I can't say so entirely, but it still was not as impressive at Wamplers the first time. Still, it was bright enough to show some arm-like branches of stars, almost giving the illusion that it had "corners." M57, observed late in the session, was atleast 2-7x brighter than home. It was almost stellar in brightness. Thankfully there were no trees to the North, so observing galaxies in Coma Berenices seemed to be a breeze. After a couple glances at the charts I was able to locate the edge-on Whale Galaxy NGC 4631. The object was easy to see in low-medium powers. I did not venture into high power. As I recall, the object did take on a whale-like appearence as one side was longer than the other (being the tale, where the bulge in relation to a shorter side was the head). When viewing this object I also noticed a fainter object next to it. It apeared to be an elliptical galaxy (ball-shaped). But apparently this is NGC 4656 (and 4657) which is an interacting pair of spirals. There was NGC 4627, a mag 12.3 elliptical but its close proximity to 4631 made this assumption highly unlikely. I was going to venture into more galaxies in Coma B. but then I suddenly realized IC 1101 had little time. Oh boy. This is the biggy. The magnitude 14.3 super giant galaxy, the largest in the known universe, 1.06 billion light years away was not visible during any time. Yes, I tried and failed. I knew it was too good to be true, but the telescope just has its limits (remeber, it's typically 14th magnitude STARS that are the limit, not 14+ and diffused objects). I overspeculated the whole thing, from my hopes and over estimation of stellar asterisms. Oh well, it wasn't a primary concern anyways. More worthy of note was the first apearence of the Veil Nebula(e). Although Pickering's wasn't important enough to look for, I found and carefully observed both the Western and Easern Veil in high detail. I have to say, although they SAY the Western veil is easier to see, I have to give the Eastern part the award for detail. There was an obvious C-shaped strucure with plenty of small voids that gave it vein-like structures along the nebulosity. This reminds me, I have to add a "Supernova Remnant" count in the Stats area. North America Nebula wasn't a concern although I did search for it. Blah. Not important enough to note. Planetary nebulae gave some pretty mind-altering views as far as most NGC P/Ns go. For example, I learned that most of these NGC P/Ns are very small and have high surface brightness such as Cat's Eye and Saturn Nebula. Although 300 power gave structure to the objects, I have to assume there are limits if I seriously wanted to observe these tiny little specs. However, one Planetary begs to differ. NGC 7293, or Helix Nebula, was a pleasing suprise as this 13th magnitude object was easily visible as a large, ring shaped object, very large I will say again in size. This was shocking because of it's high magnitude and size (most of the time, dim and diffuse objects are invisible). Because wiki is usually .5 of a magnitude above stellarium, I will have to say this is 13th magnitude (new record). Oh man, was NGC 5907 decent. The edge-on nature of this galaxy was particulary stunning, as this the scope gave a very sharp image of a pencil-like structure which was very intriguing to see. Another edge-on was NGC 891, which although 'brighter' was actually fainter to my eye. The dark band was invisible. Set a new distance record of 90 million ly with NGC 7606, which was actually a secondary objective. This 10.8 magnitude galaxy was fairly easy to locate. It's near 11th magnitude made it a dim spectacle, but it was fun to find. The last galaxies to find were all in the same patch of sky...M33, M74, and NGC 404. I have to admit, the Messiers I mentioned were actually easy to find. M33 was visible for the first time here even in the finder. It was a large object in the 30mm and apeared to be a diffused, oval shaped blob with a weak spiral structure. Even more suprising was finding M74. According to wiki, this is the most difficult object to find. Haha, right. It took me no more than 15 seconds to find this. It was not very impressive, but the fact to finding it gave a feeling of accomplishment.

Also revisited some other galaxies. Stephan's Quintet, for one was a rushed attempt of course so I wasn't able to confirm new sightings alhtough I think a 2nd object peeped into view this time at high power. Unfortunetely, the best time to look at it was the last night. I thought it was going to cloud up, because they seemed to roll in periodically, so I packed up. Two minutes after, Stephan's was in perfect view at the Zenith. Fuck. Oh well there is always next time (with a bigger scope) anyways. But above all, I have to mention M31. My goodness, this has got to be the best I've ever seen it...better than when I looked through that 21.5" at Kennsington. The skies were so dark that the galaxy extended well beyond the FOV, presented bright satallite galaxies, and even dark lanes. No joke. Two horizontal "tiger stripes" (as I describe them) were visible with averted vision around the whole galaxy. I have to give Andromeda the award of the best damn-good looking DSO I've ever seen so far. As far as planet hunting goes, I was immediatley discouraged to look for Neptune or Ceres after I found Vesta. I knew I would find the same...small objects, no detail, etc. Just not worth it. So yes, the trip had great success but at some drawbacks: First, the park we were at limited view of Southern constellations such as Sculptor (so therefore I didn't find the Sculptor galaxy). Second, at around 3AM, two van loads of small children (No joke here) came to the park and totally ruined the session. I had to pack everything up. The camera, telescope, equipment, chairs. Man that really pissed my off. What the hell were they doing here at this time? Third, at the second place, the dew got so frustrating that I almost blew my cap. It seemed like everything went wrong (clouds coming by, creepiness in the woods, dew, dew, and even more dew) so I just said "fuck this" and we went back to the camp. The warm, dry air discouraged dew so I was able to give M31, Veil, and M33 another look while also finding NGC 404.

Yes, everything was great but now I have hours of work to do now concerning my astrophotos. I would love to come back any day (even with a moon) just to escape this ghetto and the lights. I loved everything about that place, from the dark skies to the gorgeous girls, which are in no shortage at any means.

Objects found during the session(s): 13
1. NGC 4631 (Galaxy)
2. M33 (Galaxy)
3. M74 (Galaxy)
4. NGC 891 (Galaxy)
5. NGC 5907 (Galaxy)
6. NGC 7606 (Galaxy)
7. NGC 4656/7 (Galaxy)		Note: 4656 and 4657 count as one object.
8. NGC 6543 (Nebula)
9. NGC 6960 (Supernova R.)
10. NGC 6995 (Supernova R.)
11. NGC 7293 (Nebula)
12. NGC 7009 (Nebula)
13. NGC 404 (Galaxy)

8/4/11	+1/2 hour for Z8

With all the solar activity latley I took out the Z8 to check on the sunspots. Sunspot #1261 was indeed a larger feature, which was actually a double-sunspot. Kept the telescope out because I noticed TWCs predictions of overcast would come in later than expected. Actually, that night I got quite some time to study the Waxing Crescent Moon at powers 40 to 80 only. Unfortunetely that night, I was constantly bothered by a low-flying helicopter that flew by atleast 6 times that night. After this encounter the clouds started to roll in...from the East. These clouds were not normal. I speculate that they must have been low-altitude clouds as they were glowing red even before 9 o'clock. After that they took on a omnious, red-orange color. A 5-second exposure got the same results of a 30s on a normal day.

8/9/11 +1.5 hours for Z8

After a day at my grandparents, I was puzzeled to see today's Waxing Gibbous Moon in high brightness as the twilight hours passed by. Returning home, I was thrilled to discover clear skies with the eye and the MI cloud cover website. Spend the entire night (atleast 95%) on one object...the Moon. I entered this new universe with inspiration as I have come up with perhaps one of the best ideas I have ever thought up in this hobby. Because balance of the OTA is impossible to perfect, I was able to avoid 'sinking' by placing the photographic tripod underneath the OTA. With this I could use it not only to stabalize the view, but to smoothly move up and down with the crank. I took the idea further by proposing a built-on version which will move with the base so I don't have to keep moving the tripod everywhere. The next stage in evolution of the idea was to add one of those metal sticks that lock in place the tube on altitude (as seen on Orion's Space Probe 3 Alt-Azi reflector). This is superior due to obvious reasons. Anyways, spent a great deal on the moon with 300x (Vixen8 + Barlow). Explored valleys, craters, mountains, and more without running into many defects besides some false color. Seeing was not exceptional but still adequte for pleasing views throughout the night. Also took a peak at NGC 7331. Suprised to find a NGC object around here, but yet again it is under tenth magnitude. Some shape was seen with averted vision but remained vague.

8/10 +1/2 hour for Z8

A short continuation of 8/9. Nothing new.

8/11	+1/2 hour for Z8 (morning)
	+1/2 hour for Z8 (night)

This morning I got up early to capture the ISS with a new tool on S&T since Stellarium is no longer reliable for transits. It was a close call. I was supposed to wake up at 4:33AM, to give 15 minutes of setup time. I almost slept right through, as I woke at 4:46AM, two minutes away from the transit. I rushed out with the camera and the tripod with some time to spare. No time to wake up Dad. Unfortunetly the shots were not in prime focus. They would have been great because the ISS passed right over Polaris. After the transit I setup the Z8 and woke Dad. Jupiter was not very impressive. The Pleaides cluster was high in the East. Taurus was presented with cool winds, reminding me of the coming winter season. Saw Mars out in the front yard with the Eye. Also saw bits and pieces of Orion.

Later at night I mostly took pictures of the Near-full Moon through the 30mm and did some long-exposure shots of the ground with moon-casted shadows.

8/12	+1/2 hour for Z8 (morning)

Was pleased to find a second transit of the ISS at 5:27 AM. Woke on-time at 5:06AM. Had plenty of time to setup the camera and the Z8, but not for ISS viewing. The transit was the longest by far, since there were few trees in the Southern sky. Got some good shots, including one with ISS and Jupiter for brightness comparison. After the fun I setup for the Crab Nebula. By the time that was ready the sky was too bright to look. Instead I got a view of Jupiter. Up front, I have to say this is the best I've seen it so far. When Jupiter was high, it was obvious that seing conditions were above average, or even exceptional. Viewing through the Vixen8 and barlow, I spoted the GRS (confirmed by S&T) as well as many other features on the body. Today Jupiter strongly resembled what is seen in photographs. Just on S&Ts website there is a picture that is very close for detail comparison. The GRS apeared orangish. The NEB was darker than the SEB, but the SEB apeared to be wider. Groupings of small bands in the North and South were distinguish-able, as well as some convection zones on the SEB (not kidding). Some pics would be nice, but no thanks it's too early to get frustrated.

8/15	+2 hours for Z8

Watched ISS transit rather early at 10:21pm. Mom and Dad watched too. Captured two 30s exposures while experimenting with spot metering. After the transit I built up enough desire to look at some DSOs even under a early Wanning Gibbous Moon. Suprised to have some success with some of the brighter "tourist" objects such M13, M57, M27, M33, and also some Nebulae in Sagittarius. Disapointed that M8 and M17 showed very little nebulosity at all. I'm hoping to revisit Wamplers this Thursday depending on the Weather for a one-night session. I would be delighted for just one night even under extreme moonlight, but it doesn't look good so far. Anyways, also peaked at M31. Yeah, it's coming up pretty early now. Found M32...I think because I know where to find after my experience up north. I was just fooling, but I got a 30s exposure of M31. Not much to see, but still interesting. BTW, I might be getting the camera of my dreams soon, which is a Fujifilm DSLR. It sounds great, it's $770+ cheaper used (normally $1000), it includes a Wide-field lens 10x lens (28-300mm I think), it has a 9.2MP resolution, ISO 1600 (4x more than the CyberShot), and best of all, it has a CCD chip. I'm not kidding, it was amazing to find this for such a small price. Apparentely it has a special processing chip too. Yes, it has bulb mode  too. Do I have enough $$$? I think so!

*EDIT*
It turns out that Fujifilm isn't even a DSLR. It's just one of those tricky fancy look-a-like Zoom Digital Cameras. That's going off the list since I found a Canon Rebel EOS 350D XT for as low as $114 for bids, and around $230 for buy-now. I'd rather go with the Canon SLR because although the Fujifilm has some excellent features such as the SuperCCD, and the 9.2MP resolution, it will never have that SLR quality, interchangable lenses (you can forget Camera-to-Telescope photography), and a true inifinite bulb setting (the Fuji is limited to 30s, which I think is useless because its default limit is 30s anyways). Plus it seems that the Canon has a similar processing unit and has less noise (maybe because it's not digital, its just a good ol' SLR style?) at high ISO (no change from Fuji to Canon; <ISO 1600 only). The lens system also seems to be more attractive on the Canon anyways because remember they are interchangable, although the Canon's stock lens (18-55mm) is rated at 3x while the Fuji (28-300mm) is rated for 10.7x. So it looks like the bottom line has been changed. I'm strongly considering the Canon Rebel EOS 350D XT (8MP).

8/16 +1/2 hour for Z8

After a day of fun at Metro beach we watched the ISS flyby right over us at 9:22pm when we were still in the park. Captured plenty of shots, including one exceptionally long streak which was formed by what is caused by acceleration of the craft overhead. The line was larger at 30s than normal, but also lacked brightness (however possible because of reduced F number). I wasn't planning on taking out the Z8 but I did anyways after I looked at a couple large DSOs with some binoculars. Once again looked at some 'tourist' objects exluding M13 and M57. M8 suffers severley from the Detroit lights, more than I've ever seen it; I don't think even a new-moon would help. M17 was suprisingly crisp once my dark-adaption was built up. Most intriguing was M27 with dark-adaption. At low-medium powers I saw some shape, and indeed some amazing shades of green and blue. The one-night Wamplers trip is looking better and better. As long as weather permits I'll be happy to go even if that means soaking up too much sun at the track. The Moon should be less of a problem by then too. Today I saw two meteroids, one at metro and the other here. The second one I am sure was from the Perseid, which is fanatastic because that's the first 'official' sighting despite the lunar glow.

Updates about cameras: I first want to mention the Sony. I just found out today that this camera can go up to 10x (digital) zoom on low-res, and even has a macro mode for close-ups too. I was amazed because I never knew this. Plus with the telephoto lens that means I get at most 17x mag now. I also found out this camera has a CCD chip, not a CMOS O_O
Things are looking better for the Canon Rebel XT. It very well could be my next camera. Dad is interested in it (meaning only he is not objecting to my considerations), and I concluded superiority for various reasons, but I still need to do more research before I spend my money.

8/17

Just a quick update.

I'm going to Wamplers no matter if its clear or not. Mainly because I'll take any chance of better skies, plus I won't be so bored. No edits to the star charts, with the exception of one additional galaxy NGC 7### something. Read today on CN that there is a PN (peases 1) in Messier 15. That would be cool, but I don't think my 8" is up to spec. As far as cameras go, it looks like that Rebel XT is the winner. I've been thinking it might be better to buy the body and then get the same lens (or equivelent) to save some money. On one occasion I saved $30. Auctioning might become a reality.

8/19	+4.5 hours for Z8

I'm back from the short trip at Wamplers.

Up front I can say the trip was fair but keep in mind it was not intentional for astronomy purposes anyways. As always, dew proved to be destructive enemy, which risked the session at all times, even after 'warming breaks.' By now I have become used to such issues but it seems dew was not the only factor which lowered the success in the trip. As it was a Nascar week, there were exactely what you'd expect: Drunks, yells (same thing I guess), bon-fires, destructive smoke, and of course the Moon (although not associated with Nascar). With all the these factors combined I was willing to accept that this was an "off-night" for Deep Sky Viewing (after a certain time), and new objects would not be attempted (I have also decided to take things slow, meaning that I have realized I am finding too many objects too fast, and therfore I will take my time and just make the most of what I have found). Although Deep Sky was turned off shortly after 1AM (that early, yes), I managed to get some good glimpses at some well-known 'tourist' objects like M13, M57, M8, M17, M31, and M51. I also looked at some fainter galaxies NGC 5907 and 5866 (aka M102). It was NGC 5907 that I was most intruiged by. I recall this to be the "Splinter Galaxy," which had a suprisingly crisp appearence (Very thin, elongated) despite it's faintness (Mag 10.4) under a moon-lit sky with average to above average transperency (The Milky Way was not very structered). Meanwhile NGC 5866, while brighter (Mag 10), inputs less visible detail. The obvious shape is its "glow" visible in photographs, while lacking its own "needle" apearence. After these 'last' visits, we setup to see the Moon and Jupiter. We had some problems with dew and atmospeheric disturbances, so we decided to pack it up and sleep until the objects were higher. Naturally, I couldn't sleep so I just stayed up to watch Taurus rise in the East. Luckly, I DIDN'T fall asleep, otherwise I would have woken to late to see the objects I wasn't planning to see. Sure, Jupiter looked great. Later I saw the Great "Orange" Spot while tracking the Moons, which I noticed one apear after an hour's time. Perhaps even more interesting was the moon actually. I have never seen the WANNING Gibous Moon, so it was very interesting to see the craters with different shadow angles. After these planned sights, I noticed Mars high enough for observation in the Z8. So yes, I did acheive first light for Mars through this telescope. Unfortunetly, I believe it is too early for Mars' season. At high power, the orange ball was very jumpy, and I don't even think a experienced observer would tell details. After Mars, I was lucky enough to see the Orion Nebula for the first time this year. Maybe it has been that long, because it was very amazing to see the Nebula and it's features. Wings were visible with little averted vision, while the trapezium apeared like normal...so yes, very exciting especially because after all conditions were not the greatest. Imagine what it will look like with no moon/excellent transperency?

Oh and BTW, guess what? MORE LIGHTS! Yes, that's correct, it seems there is another permanent light visible from the backyard. Worse, this light never turns off, as I have seen this on even during the day. Even worse, get this, is that the light is blue. So now there is just another bright light to ruin my sessions. Great.

*EDIT*
Another suprise was the ISS passing by around 9 o'clock. Saw it through the Z8. Saw 4 bright shooting stars.

8/27	+2.5 hours for Z8

Been a while because I have been busy plus the weather hasn't been too good. Last night however, was supposed to be great, according to ClearDarkSky Charts (Excellent Transperency). Tested the forecast with M51. Whirlpool was weakly visible, most likely due to its position this time of year. Other objects seemed to have popped out okay. I went beyond the usual "tourist" objects and looked at some things like M102, M25, Sagittarius Cluster, and M15 to name some. Of course the regulars were included, and some objects (Like M13) were exceptionally bright for Bortle 8 skies. Even more suprised when I took M15 to 300 power. Dark adaption really makes a difference between a blob of light and a million stars. Andromeda was visible tonight, rather early at midnight. I also unexpectantely seen the ISS transit (this is the 3rd time I didn't plan to see it) over the North, exactely where my telescope was pointed. Coincidence? Yes, it must be. Anyways, I was able to get to 80x to see the brown-ish solar panels and the brighter center part. Too late to try 150 power. Also think I saw another satallite but don't know: I was looking for M15 when a diffused object came into view. It was difficult to resolve, and very dim. According to Stellarium, there was a satallite over by the star Enif. Saw a single shooting star. I woke up at 4:30AM (unitentionally to find my Mp3 player) to see M31 at the Zenith, M45 above the Treeline, Orion peeking behind trees, and bright Jupiter high in the sky.

BTW, that new light only turns on a few times now. It was not online during the night. Another plus was my neighbor's annoying garage light which was off for once (although it does not directely influence).

*EDIT*
I'm hoping to go Up North for a single night to see M101's Supernova, which should peak by next week.

8/28	+1/2 hour for Z8

Saw my first Comet, known as "Garradd" just a little off of the Globular M71. The 8th magnitude fuzz apeared as a medium Galaxy core such as M31's core. I hear that by Feb next year it should reach 6th magnitude, visible at dark skies from the naked eye.

8/29	+1.5 hours for Z8

Spent some more time with Comet Garradd today after I realized these clear skies will become more rare as Winter pulls in. Noticed it moved away from the asterisms I noticed yesterday. Still near M71. Afterwords I went into NGC 7331 over and over trying to find some shape; apeared as a diagnol oval. Practiced Stephan's Quintet with high power (up to 300 power) and didn't see anything except for some artifacts and lots of noise (Carrot time :P). I think I will have to accept I will need high power when I go up North. M31 was visible to the (averted) naked eye.

9/1	+2 hours for Z8

Going to see SN2011FE today in M101. Unfortunetly since my Dad is broke as always I will have to compromise for a Class 5 sky which will be equal or worse than Wamplers. The original plan was to go up North towards Port Hope. Its amazing how this idea can suddenly stall and break down within a couple days from "Yeah we can just take the Focus Up near that Cemetary I saw, no problem" to "I'm flat broke." Typical I guess.

Came back late at 1AM. Saw plenty of objects after my experience with M101. From the class 5 sky, M101 was just barely visible, so finding the supernova was a little diffiuclt because I had a weak reference point. However, according to the charts, the supernova would be in in the North East, which in the telescope I saw a fairly bright "star" assumed to be SN2011FE. It wasn't very exciting, so I moved onto some other objects. I spent the most time with Stephan's Quintet. This is truely a very challenging group. Only at random times was I able to spot a spot assumed to be NGC7320. It is difficult in the Vixen8 because I saw alot of artifacts and "ghosts" in the EP. M15 was very bright, even at 300x it apeared as spectacular as M13. M31 was brighter than home (as expected), but was not fantastic. The dark lanes were weakly visible if visible at all. Jupiter was rising, but it was not high enough to view before we packed up. Comet Garradd was much brighter, with a larger core and more visible area at high power. NGC 7331 and M57 were very bright, with plenty of structure to see.

9/10

I'm doing a quick update with my log here. School has started, so assume that stargazing will start to stall especially now that I've entered Junior year. I haven't had a clear night in a week or more, and the weather didn't even offer to let up yesterday when I went to Kennsington for their "Astronomy at the beach." Yes, it was cloudy but I got some "good connections" and gained valuble insights from lectures. Their is a very small chance that we will go back today, even if it was somehow perfectly clear.

9/11	+1/2 hours for Z8

RIP 9/11 victims.

So it's been a week (or more) of clouds. Just today the Tropical Storm Lee finally receeded, so tonight I was blessed with a clear sky. Because of this event, I "celebrated" by taking out the telescope for a half hour or so. Yes, facinating, but not glorious. The full moon and poor transparency strongly reduced the brightness of DSOs such as M57. NGC 7331 was totally invisible, including the stars in Stephan's Triangle (A asterism I use to find Stephan's Quintet). Since there were no pleasing objects, I concluded the party now so I can wake up early to see Jupiter (depending on cloud cover), which is an object I could have really wanted to see since the sky wasn't so great.

9/12	+1 hour for Z8

Woke up early to see the morning planets, mainly Jupiter. I was greeted by the Moon, which brilliantly lit like a giant flashlight in the South West. I was even more suprised when I encountered  Orion, which was totally visible even at 5:50 (or later). Before I looked at any bright objects, I got a good view of M42. I was suprised to see that M42 fanned out far, despite poor tranceparency, Moon light etc. Afterwords, Jupiter was the target. Believe it or not, but the GRS was in the middle of transit. Coincidence? This is really strange: Out of all the times I observed Jupiter in the morning, the GRS was in transit (most of the time). Up to 300 power, Jupiter was willing to give out some good details despite a fuzzy apearence (Details visible thanks to my experiece with it). More interesting was Mars. Mars rises 30 minutes earlier than it did the last time I looked, so I was able to get a good glimpse as it was just above the treeline. At 300 power (anything else is stellar in apearence), the planet was like a distant Orange Fruit, with a small squigly line on the Top (True South). This line appeared many times so perhaps it is a detail. I will need to collimate my telescope and clean the equipment before I see anything really good (not to mention more magnification with good EPs).

*EDIT*
According to Stellarium, Mars during that time did have a dark streak on the southern face. So maybe I did see something, but it will still take alot of power and patience to know for sure. BTW, I think waking up early for the planets is only possible on mondays because of the extra time.

9/18	+5 hours for Z8

I'm back from the Renisance (spell fail) festival at Holly. The skies there were above average, aprox. class 5 at best which made it similar or worse than Wamplers. Because I have never been there with the telescope, I should evaluate the sky to be "fairly good' as although the Milky Way was obvious and M31 was an easy naked-eye object despite the many light domes in the North West. Galaxies like M51 were nearly invisible so I did not spend alot of time there. Anyways, we got a clear night the second night so I was able to get some good views of the bright "tourist" objects. M13 was especially bright at high power and revealed many features. In my view it resembled a Tarantula in the sky. M31 presented it's satalites with good clarity, but the dark lanes were just barley visible - only glancable at certain times. More interesting was another visit to Hickson 92 (From now on meaning "Stephan's Quintet"). After a good hour of dark adaption and high power I was able to spot two galaxies - a milestone of difficulty acheived. NGC 7320 was a obvious find, as it glows brightest at mag 12.7 only. The second object is actually not a foreground galaxy like 7320 but is actually apart of the Galaxy group Hickson 92. This 13th magnitude galaxy is NGC 7318 (New Distance/Magnitude Record). Also woke up early to see Orion and a few of it's clustered companions. Jupiter looked amazing. There were alot of smaller bands all around. Mars was unimpressive as seeing conditions were not ideal. The Wanning Gibbous moon gave some pleasing views of inverted shadows all across the terminator line. M45 was almost covered by the moon.

BTW, I accidently dropped my Vixen8 barrel-first into the mud. A tradgedy, but it was not severely damaged and actually worked well.

Objects found during the session(s): 3
1. NGC 7318 (Galaxy)
2. NGC 1981 (Cluster)
3. NGC 1980 (Cluster)

9/23	+1.5 hour for Z8

Did a quick session when I noticed the sky was clear. Test drove the sketch papers given by my Astro teacher. Looked at various objects such as M31, M57, M45, Double Cluster, Jupiter, and Comet Garrad that I just recentely reaquired.

10/4 	+2 hours for Z8

I know I haven't been updating my log, because I've been very busy (and it's been cloudy not to mention). Finally I had just enough time and a clear sky to take a quick look at the Moon and Jupiter. Something really interesting to see regards two "rare" transits; When I looked at jupiter at 150x, I spotted a small black dot. Immediately to the right was a moon just above the surface. This had to be Io. After studying the spot for several minutes, I also noticed a small, pale oval next to it. This is the GRS, or as I call it the "Great Orange Spot." This event was astonishing because a transit occured just as the GRS was dancing across the planet. What's even more interesting is that they were right next to each other.

Later in the morning at around 5:30 before school I looked at some winter objects such as M42 (of course), M45, Mars, M44, and I found M43. Messier 43 is actually an extension next to M42. It is a small patch of green light surrounding a fairly bright star just above M42. Mars did not present much detail at 150x. I had no time to get the barlow and plus collimation was out so it wouldn't have been worth it.

10/22 +1 hour for Z8

So...after almost a month of clouds I finally got a good oportunity to get out at 5:30 this morning. I setup everything including the scope, camera, and a table (new) which will be where I put my star atlas' and other stuff; It's a good idea because I'm sick of dropping everything and having so little space on that chair-table. On CDS (ClearDarkSky), they said we were going to have 5/5 seeing conditions. WOW! That was a suprise because I was pretty disapointed at Jupiter. It might have been poor collimation, but the planet, even at 40 power, was so blury I could barley make out the bands. So I moved on M42 was a pleasing view. It took a second or two for my eyes to adjust from planetary to deep sky, and when they were done the nebula again 'fanned' out with it's wings. M43 very prominent if you find it. I am suprised that I never tried for it last winter; it is an easy object to find (although it may seem easy NOW because I have some experience with finding it). I tried that new star atlas called Orion Deep Map 600 (that I got from Astro class) to find M78. Don't think it's gonna work. There are too few stars to use for reference. The Wanning Crescent Moon was a very contrary sight. The terminator line was simply that - a smooth line seperating dark from light. There were few craters on that side I would say. I moved on to Mars, which was (ironically) better than Jupiter. Maybe it was a crack-attempt at collimation with the laser, but I got some sights. At 300 power, I swore I could resolve a polar ice cap at the bottom (true North). There were atleast 3 ghost images at a time, so getting those details were tough. But knowing me, I can use these ghost images to form a composite image in my mind. It worked damn well, because again I saw that pole along with a dark mark stretch North-South. That's it for observing, but one more thing to note is that I encountered a very special perspective. I noticed as the Sun began to rise, that the Moon and Mars were in a small stretch of sky. What this means is that I gained the insight of the Moon orbiting us, while distant Mars, all alone in space, orbits the Sun. I tried to get some pictures of that too (along with the moon, Orion, and other things) so we will see how that came out.

Oh and btw I found out that the Helix Nebula (NGC 7293) is only 7th magnitude :'(

*EDIT*

Added a 'Supernovae' section in the found objects area to keep track of things to come.

10/24 +1 hour for Z8

Wow, it was clear! I went out pretty late...about the time I should have gone to bed. I packed up at 12:00 ending my explosive 1-hour session. I say that the session was exciting because I finally found a new object and conditions were pretty good. I started by looking at Jupiter...? Or maybe it was Andromeda. Either way, they both looked good. Not much detail on Jupiter, but I was able to find the fainter 8th magnitude galaxy of M31 (I think it's M110). Andromeda kinda boring as always but seeing both of its satalites was pretty cool. I worked on over to NGC 7331 near Stephan's "Triangle." It took some time adjusting to the proper image rotation due from the last time I looked (loooong time ago). Strangly, NGC 7331 was dimmer at 40x, and brighter at higher powers. I think it's because at low power, remember you are also preserving more air glow into the image, where as higher powers don't bring as much of that crap into the FoV. NGC 7331 was much dimmer compared to the next galaxy I saw (found) that night. I had always been curious about this 9.5 magnitude galaxy just off the edge of the constellation Perseus. It is called NGC 1023. It seems like the Deep Map 600 was utterly useless -- there are few stars to use for reference. I would say it is only good for using Binocs or your naked eye. You simply cannot use such a limited number when using the higher powers of a telescope. Therefore, I resorted to good ol' Stellarium, which was a breeze to use. I was suprised to see that 1023 was rather bright at its magnitude, especially under these skies...It appeared as a bulging UFO disk. Seemed much brighter and concentrated than 7331. I saw and tried to photograph M45 with the tripod. It actually works quite well -- I saw the stars even through the electric viewfinder of the camera at a minimum of a second. At 30 seconds, The stars were bright, but they were more like startrails.

What really grinds my gears is that a huge CME hit Earth and sparked some "dazzling" auroras visible "all over North America." Naturally I didn't see jack S***, probably because a) It happend at around 9:00 b) We live too close to Detroit. None of the photographs that I took revealed any type of trace. If only I didn't have any homework.

Oh and an update for that camera: I'm looking to cash those checks of ~$255 so I can place an order on that camera. I'm having more difficulty finding one cheap like was able to do earlier this year. But since I suddenly have $400+, I guess that's not much of a problem. I'm hoping to get the camera by the end of this year, but you never know what kind of delays we are expecting to come across.

Objects found during the session(s):	1
1. NGC 1023 (Galaxy)

10/28	+1.5 hours for Z8

Another clear night. I wanted to stay up all night but tomorrow I am going to Fish Lake's Stargaze. The weather may be bad so I hoped to insure a 'fix' for myself no matter what happens :)
Started out with Jupiter. Very blurry. My thoughts may lead to the cause as being turbulence in the OTA, because it's really cold out now and that tube sits in 68 degree heat all day so maybe that was it. Moved on to finding Messier 77, which was an easy find. The 8th magnitude galaxy was easy because like NGC 1023, it was close to a bright constellation star and had some easy to remember geometric shapes in the asterisyms. I couldn't locate its companion galaxy (a binary), a near-11th magnitude galaxy named NGC 1055. I was going to look for a brighter object called NGC 936 (aka Darth Vader Galaxy), but I was sidetracked by trying to find M33 again. That didn't work, so I ended up packing up after countless nagging from my Mom with stupid questions like "How long are you staying out?" That is a very, very stupid question. Never ask an amateur astronomer that. It is too obvious.

Objects found during the sessions(s): 1
1. M77 (Galaxy)

10/29	+3.5 hours for Z8

I'm back from the Fish Lake star party from Saturday. That was a blast! The day started slow, but things really got better as the night progressed. Immedietely I was discouraged when I saw only a few telescopes. There were only 4 outside. Most of the people there were students of EMU. I could tell they had no interest in astronomy. They didn't have a clue about what they were talking about and they didn't even know how to find magnification. So as the day went on I began to feel this was a bust. The day was to a slow start but atleast there were some excellent views of the Sun through their solar telescopes. One was the imfamous PST by Coranado with a H-alpha filter which gave out stunning views of the grainy surface as well as giganitc solar prominences (as well as an unexpected view of a satalite transiting across). They also had a Schmidt-Cass with a white-light filter. This, as I've learned, is actually a glass mirror that blocks out a great deal of sunlight. The view was very impressive - much more than my screen-projection method. The filter had a nice, natural yellow shade too which brought out good detail on the surface of the Sun. 

I set up my telescope anyways close to sunset. Up until that point it looked like the sky was going to be clear. But, as soon as the Sun set, clouds rolled in. I was nervous, that the sky would be cloudy all night rather than clear up at 10 o'clock like predicted on CDS. Well it did clear, and it was great. The borlte 5 sky was rather impressive. Milky Way was an obvious feature dominating the sky, along with several naked-eye DSOs like M31, M45, and the Double Cluster. Jupiter early was actually okay. I think it proves my point that the reason why it appeared fuzzy the last time was because there was an excessive amount of turbulence in the OTA. I had let my telescope cool for almost an hour. So by the time I looked, the only limiting factor was some rippling just because of its proximity to the horizon. Later at night, as it reached its highest point, the view was spectacular through any telescope. It well could be the best view I've ever had up to higher powers. I even captured a really good single-exposure (no editing) after I got home that reveals more than just the N&S EQ bands (lower N&S Polar bands). I was suprised that not a lot of objects were much brighter than they were at home. 8.8 magnitude M77 was about the same in brightness and size. Its companion was not visible too. M31 was good though. It was well beyond the FoV, and its two satallites were easy finds. We say comet Garraad again, and this time through a "mean" 14" S-Cass. I have to say it was not very impressive at all. I can recall better sightings when we were looking for SN2011fe with my own telescope.

I wanted to find a lot of stuff with my own telescope, but because of dew problems I could barely keep up with the others who were using GoTo or had dew-zappers on their finders. As a result I think I saw more objects with other scopes than mine. Such an impressive showcase was the Veil Nebula. That was amazing! We saw it through a 13.1" (a strange number) Dob with a Televue Panoptic EP with a O-III filter. Man, that is no joke when they say it looks like an astro-photo. I could find way more detail than I ever did without a filter with my telescope, not to mention seeing it brighter too. I don't know now if I should spend my $100 that I raised from selling candy for an O-III filter or some kind of light pollution varient. The O-III was nice, but from what I read there is a small amount of objects you will be able to find/and improve detail. We saw a few more notable objects, but the best I can say is Bode's Nebulae. I was thinking about finding this again, but there was just no way with my finder dewing up every 5 seconds (no exaggeration - it would literatly dew up as soon as I took the cover off). M82 was the best looking. As seen in pcitures it has the appearence of a Barber's Pole (stripes).

Don't think that I caught Aperature Feaver. There were some larger scopes, but I must say they weren't all that better. The one I like the most was actually a 12" Dob. It was EMU's scope, but it looked like it was home-made. I liked this one in particular because in comparison to my scope the Double Cluster was much, much brighter (however M31 wasn't that much better looking). I also used a 10" Mead Starfinder (with an upgraded 2" focuser), which I believe I may have caught a glance at NGC 7320 when I was curious about Stephan's Quintet. Miraculously, I actually eye-balled this good enough to find it no-time. I was impressed with my self. I didn't even have a finder and the installed Telrad was too foggy to use. I tried to push my luck by bringing over the Vixen8 but I had the same problem with my own telescope; there is no enough focuser draw-back to bring the image to focus. So I had to suffer with a low-power EP (which wasn't bad, being it was a big 2" Televue). Those Cassegrains weren't worth the hype. They didn't really improve over the other reflectors. So yeah, I really liked those big scopes. I don't think I have Aperature Feaver, but I did catch a sneeze when I saw that Double Cluster.

That night was good - until 1:30 however. Before that I noticed the dew was getting worse and worse as the temp dropped. Everyone had their hair-dryers blowing every minute. We couldn't keep up. Frost was forming, and plus the fog set in before we left. At first it was only noticable to me, but an hour later it got so foggy it was like "Zombe-town" foggy. Some people even exaggerated this by turning on their green pointer-lasers. The relfections of the fog lit-up the whole area. Being true, everyone could see around them with just one laser on. I took a picture of this.

The night was good but it came to an unfortunet end. If only we were a bit higher in altitude we could have avoided that problem completely (what a waste, there were good conditions and no clouds for the rest of the night). This was encouraging, and I would love to go to another public star party especially if we will be around other amateurs who do this for fun and not college students who are doing this just for credit.

11/1	+1/2 hour for Z8

Tonight was clear. I was supposed to take my Dob over to my school for an observing night, but it seems it was cancelled (no idea why). So when I got home (and finished my busywork) I did my own, supercharged session. I spent the most time at Jupiter. I've notice I have become quite fond of that planet. Seeing was okay enough to show many bands below the EQ belts. When I first saw it, the plane of the moons orbits were parallel with the horizon (interesting). I didn't look at many more DSOs besides M31 and M45. I did however, un-expect-atly find Messier 1, the Crab Nebula. This Supernova remnant was very dark at 8.4 magnitude. It was quite large in the low power and was visble only with averted vision. It did have an obvious oval shape pointing towards the ground and up. It had a light green shade with no features within. I was suprised to find this so smoothly compared to all the useless attempts last year. Maybe I have just became that good at stargazing.

Objects found during the session(s):	1
1. M1 (Supernova Remnant)

11/4	+5 hours for Z8 (night)
	+1/2 hour for Z8 (morning)

Ah, what's better than a clear night on a Friday? Nothing, this was a perfect night. I theory I could have stayed up 'til morning but I did have to wake up for the days' activities and plus I would want to wait for the Spring objects to rise before dawn. The night began with the Moon, partially degraded by a thin haze that lasted for about an hour and a half. This Waxing Gibbous moon was perfect for viewing the Straight Wall, which was quite a suprise. A lot of the other craters were very impressive too, but this time around I stayed away from the Vixen8 because the other gave brighter and higher contrast views (I assumed this was because the haze dimmed the moon light). I believe from the Moon I went to Jupiter, which as always was a splendid suprise now that several, easily visible bands have formed beneath the EQ belts. I even watched throughout the night Io drift behind Jupiter and back out again the last time I looked. The GRS was around late, and I should note the feature has become much darked and is turning from a pale-orange to more of a serious red color. It was easy to find in the 15mm and and obvious find in the 8mm. After the haze disapated, I finally moved on to some deep sky objects like M31 and M57. Neither were close to their average apearence until conditions improved. While waiting for Orion to rise, I finally gave the effort to Auriga, which actually had a splendid display of medium open clusters. The first to look at was M38. Due to the moon, sky glow, and my telescope's size, there was a good amount of resolvable stars, however most remained to be a dim glow within the cluster's proximity. I then moved on to the Crab nebula, which I was once again able to find no problem. It apeared brighter than last time, probably because I observed it from the backyard. I was able to step up to 80x power which really made the nebula stand out, and took up a considerable amount of FoV. The nebulous madness continued when Orion rose enough to view M42/M43. This was impressive as always. I spend some time at 40x, but I gave the 15mm a chance and that was quite an experience. Yes, the nebulosity faded but as I got closer it was easier to distinguish features inside the clouds, such as darker lines and 'bumps.' After this I made another attempt to find M78. This time I was able to pinpoint its location by realizing the scale to consier in the finderscope. It matched my expectations; it was just a glow. It was just two stars, inside a faint cloud. I also looked for a 'bright' P/N just beneathe Perseus. I locked on to its position, however it was very difficult to tell if I found it. I bet that O-III filter will certainly help (which I plan to order today). My last look was in Ursa Major, which by the time I packed up was high enough for viewing Bode's Nebulae. M81 and M82 were easy to located once I found my "Bode's Triangle" (same technique as my "Stephan's Triangle"). Both were easy to point out, and M82 was obvious to tell from M81.

I awoke eariler than my clock, so I quitley setup and observed. I switched gears from nebulae to galaxies when I saw the Spring constellations come into view. M42 was actually worse off than before, so I dedicated the rest of my time to Ursa Major and Leo (and Gemini, where I saw a bright Messier cluster). Mars was lacking detail probalby becuase I am over due for collimation. While observing in Ursa Major, I successfully found a "dimmer" 9.3 magnitude galaxy called NGC 2841. This was an easy find and it was actually brighter than most galaxies I have found within this magnitude range. I did search for 9.8 mag NGC 3184, but without proper star charts this was impossible. I ended my half-hour session with Leo, where I think I caught a glance of either M66 or M65.

I saw two shooting stars. The brightest was in the morning. It flew by fast and for a split second I saw a glowing "tail" after the comet flew by.

Objects found during the session(s): 6
1. M37 (Open Cluster)
2. M38 (Open Cluster)
3. NGC 1907 (Open Cluster)
4. M78 (Reflection Nebula)
5. M35 (Open Cluster)
6. NGC 2841 (Galaxy)

11/5	+3.5 hours for Z8 (night)
	+2 hours for Z8 (morning)

As expected, I got my second clear night. Before we did any observing we collimated the scope (saw much improvement with Mars), got some dinner and ordered the O-III filter (Yes!) which should arrive this thursday. Naturally we started with the Moon, which was growing in brightness and before long we were using the filter for it. I did not use it, but my Dad says it improved the view and did not lose much detail. The craters seemed to be even more impressive than last night, and it was a suprise to see that the Straight Wall was still visible (but reduced in size). the Vixen15 was still the obvious choice here because it displayed the "complete picture." I took some pics that should look good on the PC. 

Next was Jupiter. I checked S@T and they said that the GRS should transited a half an hour before my check time. So we looked, and wow! I was stunned by amazment when not only was the GRS visible, but again, Io actually eclipsed Jupiter. The shadow was directly above the GRS. What are the odds! This has only happend once before. I tried to get some shots, and according to the 1" screen they came out alright. Another suprise was seeing Io drift away from the planet. I first saw Io only after starring for a moment. Io appeared to be a star on top of Jupiter, and I watched as it slowly traveresed away from the planet, along with its shadow.

Deep Sky was severly crippled until morning. I can't even recall viewing any nebulae that night (Oh, that's right. We saw just M57 and M27)I didn't even bother with M31; I am never suprised that I am disapointed everytime I look. Just before I packed up we looked at some clusters in Auriga. For most of the night I just sat by the fire to warm up. During the night I saw one shooting star, and we had to use a hair dryer to warm the EPs and the finder (which worked great).

I woke up an hour late this morning, but that was not an issue because the sky I awoke to was very discouraging. There was a thick, brown haze covering the sky which made the sky no better than it was without the Moon. This didn't stop me, and we observed anyways. I was on to a good start when I found my red light that I 'lost' earlier. It was sitting all alone in the grass, waiting for my arrival. The first catch was Bode's nebula, which had a much lacking appearence with all of that haze. When the clouds passed, we looked back at these galaxies to find them glowing in the dark. M81 was a bright glow and M82 was just chilling on its side. Of course M42 was of interest so that was the second object. This was still during the haze so the nebula was no where close to its normal look. A view through the 15mm was nice. It's what I think that O-III filter will do; bring out a lot more detail, and not so much more nebulosity. We did not look back because the haze cleared when M42 was subject to the Detroit lights. After Orion I moved onto a new find, which was kind of a long-shot at 10th magnitude. This was a famous Planetary in Gemini, known as the "Eskimo Nebula." This was easy to discern even at 40x power. I was impressed with every jump in power, all the way up to 300x. The next visit was a Open Cluster in Gemini, which took a few minutes to find. It was rather large in size, and appreciatable (spell fail) at 40 power. I tried my luck even more when I prepared to look for a "double feature" in Canis Major. Messier 46 and 47 were not the "double" in "double feature." Rather, it was the suprising find of a Planetary known as NGC 2438. This larger, 10th magnitude Plantery was only observable at 80x and 150x. I should note that at 150x the view of the P/N improved dramatically. To my suprise, Dad was not able to find this faint fuzzy. With only a half hour 'till dawn, I hurriedly looked to the Leo Triplet. To my amazment, M65/M66 were obvious finds. NGC 3628 remains anomynous. I studied these fuzzies before we looked at Mars, Bode's Nebulae again, and a crack-search for M51. I was hoping to find this, but I was disapointed that by the time I located its new position (new because the angle is different than what I searched for in the Summer), it was already Dawn and nothing was visible in the EP. I guess the last notable view was of Mars. Up to 150/300 power I could resolve the disk (no jumpy ghost images like last time), as well as a dark-face and possibly the Northern Ice cap. Also when I was looking for the Leo Triplet I saw a brilliant shooting star, and instead of using the the hair dryer to warm the EPs I was using it to warm my hands! All together a very good night.

Note:
I think I'm on to something. I doubt it's any increase in skill, but I have been noticing that more and more DSOs are visible in the backyard, particulary in the East. Last year any object about 8th magnitude was out of reach. Now I've been finding galaxies up to magnitude 9.5 (and perhaps beyond). Even that 10th mag Planetary inside M46 was a find despite its large size and magnitude. The two Messiers of the Leo triplet were obvious. Dad has even said that there are less and less lights (and he as also seen these faint fuzzies too) as Detroit's economy takes a dump. Plus 30s exposures of M31 have been more impressive and M31 stands out much easier. Maybe we are really taking the night back? Perhaps it's good that the economy is forcing lights to be turned out. It sure is a good thing for me. I wonder if before a long time will we ever see the Milky Way here???

Objects found during the sessions: 4
1. NGC 2392 (Planetary Nebula)
2. M47 (Open Cluster)
3. M46 (Open Cluster)
4. NGC 2438 (Planetary Nebula)

11/12	+1/2 hour for Z8 (morning)

Got latest addition to my equipment today. The O-III filter arrived 4 days earilier than expected...so I'm really happy that I'm gonna have plenty of time to use it. Typically however, it's overcast (or at least too hazy even to do some lunar/planetary viewing) so I won't be able to test the filter until tomorrow morning at 6AM (my luck it won't clear up at all).

I'm a little skeptical because I noticed that the filter does not block out all artifical lights. I held it up to my while looking at some street lights and I could clearly see a green glow from the light. I also looked at some clouds at night, and they were still glowing (green). Although the filter does totally block out some lights (such as those in my alarm clock), I suppose the real test is on a clear night (whenever that is).

Morning updates:

For some unknown reason, I woke up the following morning much eariler than I planned for. I was supposed to wake up by 5:30 (CDS said that's when it was going to be clear), but I woke to my clock at 4:16 insted. How lucky, because if I had not woken at that time, at 5:30 I would have been neglected by infinite blankets of overcast.

So the small session was not anything spectacular. Testing the O-III filter, I could only use it on 1 nebula: M42. The Moon was so bright at it's 95% disk that a great deal of "pointer stars" used to find other DSOs were totally invisible even at stars with 3.5 magnitude. Anyways, M42 looked okay. I'm assuming it's because of the Moon that M42 didn't bring a lot to the table. I identified no fanning arms (with and without the filter), but with the O-III I could see some interior features that resembled dark nebulae. As expected the stars were very faint and mostly vanished. The O-III virtually killed M43. There was barely any hint of nebulosity. After this encounter I looked at Mars and the Moon. Both had a eerie look and Mars actually looked good (despite no detail visible) and round. I even tried for the Leo triplet and of course those galaxies were utterly destroyed by the filter.

11/13	+1 hour for Z8

Can't remember much from this night, but I remember that this was the first time I actually got to use the filter to it's full ability. With high-speed winds tearing up the clouds, I managed to get some views of the famous Summer-time planetaries M27 and M57. M27 was most impressive - There was a DRAMATIC increase in detail and brightness. Compared to what I saw up North, they were identical. Without filter the object was washed out and hidden - much like a ghost in the sky. This filter helped bring out it's true glory without a snich. No compromise necessary. Just pop it on, and go. I can't say the same thing for M57 because there really isn't much to improve. M57 is already a bright planetary, and is relativly small - too small to acheive any sort of high-detail viewing at any power. So naturally the O-III did indeed improve brightness, and I guess I have to say that the ring structure seemed to sharpen from a blur to a tangible disk.

During that night I also looked for the Veil. Naturally this was invisible under our conditions, right here next to Detroit (BTW I am scarred: The new Mayor has announced a plan to get the lights turned back on!). I shouldn't have to deduct any credit from the filter's performance, as this was due to my limits of the sky. With the Moon present it was extremely difficult to still get a descent view of M42. Wings still invisible, and detail was lacking (with O-III too). In continuation of the night I think I even glanced on over to M31 at the zenith. I was not suprised to find that M31 appeared significantly dimmer with the O-III than without it. I guess that's a lesson.

11/15	+2.5 hours for Z8

Holy wow! It was clear tonight??? That was sure a suprise for me...

After the initial shock of a clear, moon-less night, I ran out as quickly as I could with my beloved Zhumell to try and get some more views of the Planetaries (and the Veil). The Veil still didn't work out even with the sky being mostly clear all night and before observing with a moon in the sky. I guess this confirms my doubts on the filter's performance (maybe). I did get a second look at the fabulous Dumbell, without going to deep into detail the nebula was Fine. M57 was a different story. I actually found M57 with the filter at 80 power. To my suprise, the PN was no brighter than last time. When I removed the filter, I found out why. It turns out that by the time I actually got to M57 it was so low in the sky that the effects of light pollution became the number one source of pain for M57. Afterwords I did some more intense stargazing for objects in the South...what a fail. I should know by now that even with a filter those fuzzies won't give themselves up without a fight. I did however achieve some more success in Cygnus and Orion. I found two new planetaries with the filter; NGC 7027 and 2022. Both were small PNs that had relatively high surface brightness which made them easy finds within a few minutes of searching. I should note that NGC 7027 was a very obvious find - It glowed with a greenish tint that was exactely what I expected to find in the O-III filter. This must be the PN. NGC 2022, at 12th magnitude was a little less obvious. Finding the pointer stars was a sinch, but I couldn't truly recognize the nebula's shape until I hit higher powers (80 to 150) while using that filter.

Oh and by the way, I had an EXCELLENT view of the Great Orion Nebula today. While using the O-III I started slow and moved to the Vixen 8. With every step-up, The nebula dimmed slightly but improved in contrast and detail. Especially so was viewing at 150 power. Yes, the nebula was dim, but at the compromise of extreme detail. I can recall fabulous stretches of nebulosity raging from side to side while deep-cut dark nebulae dominated the central reigon. Almost all of the stars disapeared but again the nebulosity was truly awesome. As I rember, the nebula lacked the quantity of an astrophoto, but excelled in similar detailed areas around the edge of the nebula. This is truly the best I've ever seen it.

Objects found during the session:	2
1. NGC 7027 (Planetary Nebula)
2. NGC 2022 (Planetary Nebula)

11/17	+1.5 hours for Z8

*Milestone achieved: 100th object found*

Object(s) found during the session:	2
1. NGC 40 (Planetary Nebula)
2. IC 418 (Planetary Nebula)

11/23	+2.5 hours for Z8

I came back from a successfully planned trip to a local dark sky provided by a not very distant relative. According to the map this was a class 6 zone, and I approved as I was able to see quite a few stars in the Milky Way. To be completely straight forward, the trip was good. I was able to locate plenty of DSOs (most of which are invisible here), and they really made the wait worth it. With the OIII filter, many of those "faint fuzzies" weren't so "faint" and not very "fuzzy." The first DSO of the night was the all-mighty Veil, which was an easy find here. On first glance it was a dim streak of light. After 2-3 minutes of dark adaption however, nebulosity screamed in furry. Filamentary structure was easy, and there was an obvious resemblence to photos with its shape. The West Veil (With 52 Cyg) easily projected a cone-like appearence towards the edge. The East Veil (My favorite part) was a curve, rembling to a smiley face. On the right side of the EP the structure bulged towards the W. Veil. Also on this part were filaments that were like blood capilaries, where the main piece was a larger and split into many. We next viewed the North America Nebula, which to my suprise was visible to me for the first time. I guess that OIII REALLY makes the difference. I think I even saw this when I held the filter to my eye. I saw a faint patch of light just above Deneb. At first this was a large, diffused patch, but again like the Veil, a few moments revealed features such as seeing Florida and Mexico in this nebula. Another notable DSO was the Dumbell. This was really where it looses its description of a "faint" fuzzy. This was no where close to faint. In the 30mm (OIII), this was a object that exploded into view with direct vision. Averted was totally unecessary for detail, but was useful to find shades of BLUE. At the Zenith, M31 was something amazing. While no dark-lanes were visible, it and its companions were very bright. M31 of course was outside the field of view. Was going to try for M33 but the Double Cluster in Cass/Perseus caught my eye. Wow! We went inside for a half hour to warm, and when we went out again M42 was ready for action. Without the filter was quite impressive. But with the filter...it was foggy. So I put the filter under some stuff to equalize. When I popped that in...Orion Nebula was truly the best nebula I've ever seen (in terms of brightness) With the 30mm, Nebulosity stretched far beyond the limits here, nearly OUT of the FoV. In the Vixen8? Damn, that must be a photo! I can't describe how incredible it was. It really had that much complexity. I was speechless. So I wrapped everything up with an unimpressive view of M97 and M1. But before those I did take a glance at Bode's Nebulae. Seeing these two really makes me envious of such a sky. They were both very sharp and bright. I want to move out there!!!

Objects found during the session(s): 1
1. NGC 7000 (Nebula)

11/24	+1/2 hour for Z8 (morning)

Just happend to wake up 'early' at 6AM this morning. I went outside, and to my surprise was a clear sky. I got everything out and started observing the Spring objects. Wow, things towards the East really look good. The first object was M51. Very suprising was that this was an obvious find...much more so than last years' attempts. It was faint, but bright enough to display the core of it and its companion NGC 5195. I realized as I watched it that its spiral structure must be very large and impressive in bigger scopes if they stretched towards the companion. My next move was M97...hoping for a glance with the OIII. I can't be sure I saw it, because I haven't mastered this one and it is very faint (nearly 12th mag!). The craze continued with an exciting view of the Leo Triplet (Doublet). M65 and M66 were VERY prominent. NGC 3628 is still invisible but I beleive I may have caught a hint of it. M65 was the best looking of all DSOs this morning. It had a fashionable and elongated appearence. Similar to the Bode's at medium power but larger in size. This was easily discernable from M66 (Wow, was it ever that easy??). As high-altitude clouds rolled in I geared-down to planetary viewing. To my most intriuged suprise, Saturn was actually in the sky...visible with the naked eye! Naturally this was first before Mars. As I expected, the image was fuzzy from its low declination. Even that however, it wasn't bad at medium power. I could resolve the rings and the shadows on the surface. For a fraction of a second (as turbulence suddenly ceased), I noticed a cloud band on the North face. I only glanced at Mars. Blah. Just a boring, orange disk.

11/30	+2.5 hours for Z8

Celebrated a pre-anniversery session tonight with my Z8. Wow, it's been one-full year (techinically until tomorrow, the first. However the weather won't be so kindly). I would like to elaborate on my experiences with this wonderous pipe of dreams, but it is very late. Tomorrow I will dedicate some time to the Zhumell. 

Overall tonight was okay. Pretty normal conditions and not too much interesting. Jupiter caught my attention with good to excellent seeing condtions limited to EP cleanliness (NEEDS TO BE CLEANED ASAP). I want to note that Bode's nebulae are becoming a favorite. I have connected the thoughts that they are always a dependable pair. Always in the sky, bright, and succeeds to please. While the Bode's sure are pretty, M51 remains the favorite due to its unique spiral characteristics obeserved in Up North 2011 (Hope to see even more in Up North 2012, and maybe Up, Up North 20XX later).

12/1

Happy anniversery Zhumell Z8! Wow, one full year. Coincidentally, today I recieved my first fully-digital SLR camera. I just got it late today. It's not the Canon Rebel 350D. Rather, it's an upgrade to a Sony Alpha a230L. This camera has 2.2 more MP, and has ISO up to 3200 (as well as many other sweet features). I shot some simple pictures of (some random stuff and) the Moon. With the EP, it's still modestly difficult but is easier because I can look straight through the viewfinder that corresponds to the camera's focal length. Using the telescope as the lens, I found that I neede the barlow lens to reduce the focal plane so I could actually focus for a clear shot. This sort-of makes the system a bit less flexible, but I can still add more barlows too. Typically, it is cloudy right now so I don't think I'll have chances to look in the telescope or take any more pictures.

Gosh, I would love to write a fantasitic essay on the use of this scope for a year, but I just don't have the time. I'm eating, and plus I still have HW to do plus I need time if I will be observing tonight.

12/9	+1.5 hours for Z8 (night)
	+1.5 hours for Z8 (morning)
	+1/2 hour for Z8 (Last un-logged night)

So I finally had an ideal observing night. It's not that we've been under clouds for over a week, but it's that those "clear" nights weren't really clear. They were either too hazey, or were interupted by unexpected waves of clouds. I already added the half hour which is actually combined from both nights (yes I did only about 15 minutes each; the sky was really that bad). Tonight I was stuck with luck with a clear sky, partially discouraged by a full moon. I didn't get out til' 11, so by then the moon was already too high for serious DSO viewing. I was limited to viewing M42--with the OIII filter. Without the OIII the nebula was so washed out...So I was glad the filter brought it back to life. I was pleased with it at every power, up to 150x. Even Jupiter was off limits due to *very* poor seeing conditions. The planet was an unresolvable sphere which was pale with twisted curves of light that refracted the image back and fourth to nothing. My last attempt was for a previously unseen globular cluster M79. I had not see a globular in a matter of months, so it I thought I might try it. M79, being 8th magnitude, at a low portion of the sky, was very faint indeed. I could resolve no stars in the cluster, just a faint, grey fuzz. I ended the night with the Eskimo with the OIII. Nothing incredible, but an interesting view while being rushed.

The following morning I woke at 5, but didn't agree with myself to go out until 6. There was not much to see with that moon. Every galaxy I tried was nonexistent in Ursa Major, Virgo, and Leo (with the exception of a pleasing sight of M104). The Sombrero as it seems is very reliable. The Bode's weren't even up to the task with the moon, and M104 begged to differ at a higher magnitude. Although dim, it was easy to spot an elongated disk and possible a faint bulge of nebulosity. This was (saddly) the only DSO for the morning. I was truly suprised by the exceptional seeing conditions I experienced this morning. Saturn was the first. With all of the day's heat gone, Saturn, at just 35 degrees, was very comparable to the typical views during Spring. Most of the features were visible. I spotted two easy moons, as well as two more fainter moons (I guess I'm not rusty at moon-finding) next to the planet. For some reason, I had the crazy idea to go to Mars. Woah, a polar ice cap? That was the first thing I noticed at high power. Then I was able to see some sort of dark mare on the surface. I tried for today's Lunar eclipse, but no good.

Objects found during the session(s):	1
1. M79 (Globular Cluster)

12/10	+5.5 hours for Z8

Had a great observing night despite the moon's all-night show with a buddy of mine. The objects on the agenda were the brighter nebula: M27, M57, M15, and M42. I was suprised that he easily found M27 with only a reference to the starcharts. As notable the sky turned the worst as undetected clouds came in to ruin the nearly transparent skies with 5/5 seeing (Jupiter was GREAT). Couldn't find M46/NGC 2438 but had more luck with photography. Got shots of M42 and M31 which are not bad. Jupiter came out well.

12/12	+1.5 hours for Z8 (morning)
	+3 hours for Z8 (night)

Woke up very early today for Spring objects and the morning planets. Most galaxies were invisible, but one Leo galaxy and M104 stood out well. The planets were more notable. Easily at 300 power (perfect collimation!), Mars was a steady circle with a discernable polar ice cap and some darker spots around the globe. Saturn at the same power was exceptional--neck and neck with spring's best nights.

Went back to school for a 3-hour viewing session. Had a lot of fun with other scopes and a cool video camera which may have recorded some good shots of Jupiter through my scope. The night had passing clouds but was withstandalbe. I got a new camera (temporary loan), a real astronomical CCD camera by Meade. I didn't have the software CD so I couldn't use it tonight. Oh well.

12/26	+3.5 hours for Z8

It's been cloudy here for nearly 2 or 3 weeks, with the exception of a few false-nights (clear for an hour). I have lost count really. Anyways just this night it was clear enough
to take out the scope as well as that new CCD camera. I had already tried it on some DSOs but I quickly learned that long-exposure imaging is impossible without automatic tracking.
Clouds flew in on that night so I waited until this day (although I was not expecting mostly clear skies) to do some more simple imaging. I was able to get the young Moon, a blob
of Venus, and Jupiter and its bands. I think I tried M45 but again this was impossible. I think it would really work with some sort of tracking, but that camera has such a short
focal length that it zooms in comparable to over 100x, so in just 5 seconds the object is out of view and all you got are star-trails. After that disapointment the skies were
plenty clear still, so I left my PC outside to use as reference with Stellarium (just in case that new Sky Atlas doesn't work so well) and play some games if clouds showed up.
I was extremely lucky the whole night. Some clouds rolled in an hour after imaging, then they really cleared out by 9 o'clock, straight back to a cloudless sky. I observed a
lot of objects with that new Pocket Sky Atlas that I got for Xmas. With that I was able to find all 3 Messier clusters in Auriga no problem. The stars are perfectly laid out for
usage of the finder scope. I'm glad they only included stars up to 7th magnitude because...that would be very chaotic. What does concern me is that opposite will occur in dark
skies. There will be loads of stars in the finder but few in the atlas. So yes, according to this, that means I found a new messier object M36. I should note here that each cluster
had its own unique appearence. M37 was comet-like in the finder. At 40x the cluster was like a pile of salt. There were many faint stars tightly grouped, obvious to tell away from
the rest of the stars around it. M36 had few stars, but many were much brighter. Lastly M38 was a mix. It was smaller than M37, and had fainter stars. Not much action in Orion.
M42 is becoming the same boring show. I did again visit M78 with the new atlas. Also, I actually found an intriguing double star in Orion. This was the "head" star of Orion,
Lambda Meissa. This was easy to split at every power. I was going to visit a Carbon Star "Hind's Crimson" but it seems I missed this as  thought it was in Canis Major, not Lepus.
Oh well, there is always another clear sky I guess. As a final wall of clouds were moving in to end the night, I was able to get the Bode's Nebulae very well in the scope. Both
were very bright, detailed, and dependable as they ussually are (without the moon). While observing the Bode's I checked that atlas and saw that there was a another galaxy very
close to M81. This was magnitude  9.9 NGC 3077. This was actually bright for its magnitude, but still visible with averted vision under these skies. I had to use Stellarium however
to confirm it. There were not enough stars for reference.

Objects found during the session:	2
1. M36 (Open Cluster)
2. NGC 3077 (Galaxy)

//////HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!/////

-----------------
<<<<2012>>>>
-----------------

Damn, it's already a new year?

1/3/12	+1.5 hours for Z8

Got real lucky this morning (morning of the third) of the new year. Last night I had been watching how the clouds were slowly ripping apart from high winds close to midnight. Based on previous observations of this phenomenom, I concluded that there was a good possibility of clearing skies in the early morning hours. So Waking up at 3:30, I saw just that. I "quietly" took out the equipment as fast as possible, although this was not easy because I was not sure of clear skies 100%, so the scope remained in my room. After setup was completed I was in awe. The Moon had set, and the beloved Spring and early Summer constellations were shinning high in their glory in the South East. Highest in the sky was Leo, so this was my first attempt. Once again I am puzzled by the ease and extraordinary appearence of M65 and M66. Both are comparable to Bode's Nebulae in brightness (however lack much structure still). Actually tried for invisible NGC 3628. Now that I have a chart I figured I could locate it. I went to a star just above M65. I cannot say I know for sure that I found it. Its elongated shape and faint surface makes this object nearly impossible to find even on the best nights as experienced this morning. Yes, that is true. This morning had to be one of the darkest nights right here in my own yard. I even went to assume that we actually had transparent skies for once! Seeing in the beginning was poor, but by the end of session, even overlooked Mars was shinning with explicit detail with its ice caps and surface Mare. Naturally Saturn stole the spot light however. As I have said before on previous nights, the seeing is comparable to those of the best Spring and Summer nights. Maybe it is true that this Winter cold actually brings truly transparent and settled skies (that's when, of course, it allows a clear night, that is!). One thing I want to bring up with good attention is my venture into the "Realm of Nebulae." To be more specific, the Virgo Cluster. With this new map I actually attempted this. I came with tremendous success. My first find was in the heart of the cluster: M87. The "giant" elliptical has got to be the fuzziest DSO I've seen. Nearly impossible for my to cite its center. Just above was "Markarian's Chain" which, from my location, only displays two Messier giants M84 and M86. I will report that some other objects were visible maybe to the right or left, but I decided that it would be best to make a new, dedicated zoom chart for the cluster. Yes, this one is great, but it is designed for dark skies and large telescopes. They assume you don't need any more stars to starhop with because they should just "pop" right into view no problem. Moving East into the cluster, I found two and a half more galaxies. The first was M60, which to me looked much like a face-on spiral galaxy, larger than M51. Next to it was M59.
This was much smaller and dimmer but could be observed simultaneously with M60 even with the Vixen 15mm. At 150 power M60 was quite a feast of light at magnitude 8.80. The "half" object is kind of a mystery. While observing these two, I could easily spot an unfocused star, above M59 (below in the charts) and forming a right triangle with M60, pointing away from M87. This object was very, very faint. I could only make a conclusion of a galaxy by going to high power. In the charts, this is NGC 4638, however its magnitude in Stellarium is much to high. At 11.30, this is highly skeptical. My skies are typically limited to around 10th magnitude galaxies. I would like to say that perhaps the improved transparency caused this, but I can't see that much improvement with only improved conditions. I won't add this until I look again with an enhanced star chart. With clouds making their way in, I rushed over to Ursa Major to get a splendid view of M51. Indeed, improved transparency really brought out stars at the Zenith, making this an easy find and a pleasing target. I was able to spot weak nebulosity around the core. My last DSO view was M104. This overlooked galaxy was amazing this morning. At every power the disk was very large, extending nearly the distance of the two stars on its sides. The dark lane was difficult as usual but never impossible. Clouds took over after that. I also tested my working DSLR setup with the barlow. I tried Saturn. I have a lot of work to do on that. What I am really ashamed of is that I totally missed Coma Berenices. I wanted to Look at M64 and possibly the Whale...It's just so faint, and Arcturus was stealing the attention to that zone.

Objects found during the session:	5
1. M87 (Galaxy)
2. M86 (Galaxy)
3. M84 (Galaxy)
4. M60 (Galaxy)
5. M59 (Galaxy)

1/15 	+2.5 hours for Z8

So. It really has been a while since I've updated and that's because my primary machine has been down. Due to many reasons of consideration, I finally opted to install the software to bring this back to life. In the mean time, I have been using the old work Dell for basic usage. Sadly, the pc doesn't agree with my media player so I have not been able to report all of my findings. I have done many observing since the day of death to today, but only the best two nights were worth the extra trouble of logging. As a result, I'm afraid I have lost progress of found objects of countless hours of observing. Thankfully, we didn't do anything major during that time. Even when it was clear, the full moon was out to destroy every DSO in its path. From the few nights I had, I looked back at a few faint fuzzies and the planets. Most interesting is Mars...which is improving in detail considerably.

As far as tonights observing, I was more impressed with the fact that it was clear than the conditions. Sure, they were not ideal, but clear nights are just so rare. Planets were totally crap, so I won't even go there. First DSO was actually the Bode's which looked okay at first, then really good two hours later. NGC 3077 barely glimpsible. M42 was awesome. I wish it was warm enough to do some drawings now that I remember I have the sheets. With the OIII and 30mm it is really huge. Noticed one side was larger than the other. With the 8mm (no OIII), it still looked damn good for high power. Next object was a long-pursued star. I don't normally observe stars, but this one in particular was a very amusing find. Named "Hind's Crimson Star," this Carbon star at estimated 8-11th magnitude was the reddest object I have ever observed. It was far redder than Betelgeuse, Aldebaren, Anteres, or even Mars. The color was quite literately referred to be a "drop of blood" in apearence. Visited the Eskimo, M47, M46, Beehive, and a new galaxy in Leo. This new object is NGC 2903, a 8.9 mag spiral. Desipite its brightness, under some 2/5 transparency it was rather dim and washed out. No detail visible. Just a small, white patch. Pretty happy tonight. As I'm typing, the moon still has not risen.

Objects found during the session:	2
1. Hind's Crimson Star (Carbon Star)
2. NGC 2903 (Galaxy)

1/27	+2 hours for Z8

Whoo! Midterms are finally over, and what better way to celebrate than a clear sky?? Ya, I did a lot of observing, mainly on Orion Nebula. Transparency was exceptionally high, which allowed excellent views of M42 with every EP (however seeing conditions limited the use of the 8mm). The nebula was huge, and I saw a lot more details I've never seemed to notice. For example I noticed that the cetral open cluster inside the nebula burned a "hole" in the cloud of ionized gas that connected with the dark "cone" shaped dark nebula in M42. M43 was obvious. Also, beyond the dark bridge I noticed more nebulosity traveling further from the nebula too. At 80x I was almost certain that the view could rival that at Sherrie's (JK). Jupiter was okay for the night, with improving conditions but nothing to fuss about. Venus as poor as usual, but the moon actually for once was a pleasing sight. I wanted to observe with Zach but it seems he has more "important" events to attend to...

1/28	+7 hours for Z8

WHAT??!! Are you kidding me right now (that's what you're saying)?! I know, it seems rediculous and highly unlikley, but it happened anyways (while still being rediculous). I got out early enough to see the evening lineup of Venus, the Moon, and Jupiter. Venus, of course, was first. I observed this only to find that conditions were still leaving much to be desired, even with perfect collimation, the Vixen8 and an OIII filter to keep out some of the glare. My next target, the Moon, was a real suprise. I observed this for quite some time. I could not get over how many craters I was starring at. Hundreds of them! Since it is useless to exagerate the details, I will skip forward to my wishes that it would be excellent if the Moon was always in this phase. Just enough detail to ponder about and just enough to keep the fuzzies in. I went over to Jupiter, suprised to find the GRS in transit. With 3.5/4 out of 5 seeing, I had a satisfactory experience. I did some photography, then jumped back to the Moon...(Prepare for an amusing anecdote)

You know, you will never fully experience the true thrills of this hobby until you encounter some real trouble. I'm not talking foggy EPs, dead battiers, or even a broken lens. I'm talking about a mean, life-threatening  group of "youngsters" passing by, ten feet away from you as *try* to calmly observe. Just this night, I came across one of the most scarriest moments in this hobby.

So, I was observing/photographing the Moon. Then, I hear talking. Loud, stereotypical yelling, approching from a rarley observed angle. Normally I would hear these yells, maybe coming from Damon st. or around the East bend, and I had become acostmed to the angles of projection. But this was different. I had never heard this. I looked up, and fearing the worst, I sneaked over to the edge of the house for a peak. SHOCK! My heart fell at the sight of nearly a dozen of these night-roaming creatures heading down my street. I had no reason to think positive. No one, no one but the uninformed or invited ever heads down my street, or if they are looking for trouble. Immediatley, I run to the telescope, lift it with my might, and run over and place it on the deck. I made an attempt to gather the rest of the equipment (just the chair and the cheap sony), but I had spotted several invading the view of the backyard. I knew that if I made a dash, they would most likley hear me (or see me) running for my life from them, and instinctivly they would only act upon this stupid mistake. So instead, I peaked around the back corner of the house, hoping that they would not notice the reflective chair sitting alone in the driveway. I stood there, waiting, ready to call the cops if I had to, or ready even to bring out a weapon. I then saw one run onto the island, then to the metal fence. He made a jump. A moment later, the rest of the swarm arrived, all jumping on que. It was like a typical video game, with NPCs scrippted to do a retarded animation of jumping a fence. I waited more. I could only see that they might want to jump the fence into my backyard next. Frantically, I rushed to get all the equipment into the house. Naturally, however, the Cat insisted to go outside during this chaos. He darted out, and I tried to retrain my yelps of fury. I then saw them on Damon, and instantly after my yells, one looked towards me. Magically, they looked away and continued away down the street. Fearing their return, I got a laser and desperately tried to bring in the cat, and successfully did so after two minutes. A moment. Door shut, lock, breathe. I was safe. Everything was in the house. Scope, EPs, Camera, Cat, Me. Without anyone home, I called Mom. I told her all about it. Apparently Dad was supposed to be home hours ago (Oh God, what could have happend without him). Just as I hung up, they arrived. Relief.

Everything after that was okay. Clouds came an went, but after that it was generally clear. I only attempted for some strange objects like the Cone and Rosette Nebula, of course not expecting to find anything even with the OIII filter in place. What a suprise! Nothing!

With the boredom of Orion and the other winter clusters, I went over to Ursa Major. The first view was...you guessed it, Bode's Nebulae. Man, without the moon, those were so bright! I mean really, they were! I even saw NGC 3077 at every attempt. I also tried the binocular EP again to be suprised by its excellent performance. Forward, I encounted NGC 2403. This looked like a dim, open cluster with nebulosity, but after some back and fourth visits to the charts, I knew I ahd located it again and again. I even tried for M97 and M108. To my suprise, M97 was very much visible with the OIII. At 80x, it was difficult, but not impossible to identify some dark areas in the nebula. M108 was very dim and had to make out. BTW, I tried NGC 2775, but it's just too damn faint for these skies. On to Leo! I went in for the first triplet. I saw both the main Messiers, and even some hints of the NGC. Oh and Mars was great. Kinda "cartoony," but surface maare was easy to discern. In Leo again, I found the second triplet containting M95, M96, and M105. All were suprisingly bright. Oh and I got M67 after looking at the Beehive cluster. After that I wrapped up with a fair look at M51.

Oh and I don't think I' m d one cause Ill wake upo eealy maybe at 4aM to see more spring galaixies and other spring time objects. holy fuck i am so freaking tired.

Objects found during the session(s):	1
1. M67 (Open Cluster)

1/29	+2 hours for Z8 (night)
	+1/2 hour for Z8 (morning)

Ah boy, this ain't gonna be easy. I just woke up from a make-up nap, and it's already been a day after these observations. I can't say it was really important. I didn't find anything new during night or even the following morning. Planets were terrible, and the Moon is only getting worse fast. I looked at M42 with 3" of snow everywhere (I had to plow a path in the yard to place my stuff), and even with the OIII that wasn't too fantastic. 80x was okay, but not nearly as good as the first night. For most of the night I attempted some more astrophotos of Orion and friends, and also Jupiter and the Moon with prime-focus. I still have not looked at the files and I don't think I'll have the chance to do so for a long time. All that night I had difficulty focusing that lens. Damn those automatic-focusing, cheaply manufactured lenses. Why do they even focus past infinity anyways? What's the point? 

As usual, it seemed like the morning hours were a bit more interesting. First was the sight of M13. At first, transparency was poor, but it got better later towards dawn. Same with Leo. At the time however, I only looked at Leo once and found only one of the galaxies. In Virgo, I spotted the spectacular Sombrero, which was rather faint once again due to poor conditions. Even in the Virgo cluster, only M87 and M86 were easy to spot. Later that morning, I opted to find some more objects in the "open space" that was emerging above the treelines. To my suprise, this was actually Sepens Caput, and Ophiuchus. Even more suprising was the sight of Antares, and the rest of Scorpious (this gives me much hope to observe the summer objects next new moon at Sherrie's). The only reasonable object to observe (brightest and easiest to find) was M5, which was a brilliant globular which almost sold me that it was actually brighter than M13. Ha! I actually came back to M13 to find that transparecy improved considerably, and M13 was just as good with half the power every time. What really angers me is that two stars I was racing to observer were tricks. According to the Pocket Sky Atlas, R Cor Bor is supposed to be another carbon star. All I saw was a bright, white star (this is a yellow supergiant??). The second was the Blaze Star, which was not even there (this is actually a NOVA!)

2/4	+4 hours for Z8 (night)
	+1.5 hours for Z8 (morning)

I haven't had any sleep since friday night, and I'm still going. I'm feeling pretty lazy so I won't do a big description. So today I went over to Zach's with some others and had a good time. Yeah. I think the most notable moments were observing the unusually bright Bode's Nebulae and NGC 2438 with the OIII filter. Here at home I got up at 5AM and saw the crisp clear views of spring and summer stuff. M13, M92, and even Comet Garrad were found. Went over to Coma Berencies and found some new stuff. M51 actually bright tonight along with M94 and M63. M57 was the last of them that morning. Two very bright shooting stars within 2 to 5 minutes from Coma Berencies or Botes.

Object found during the session:	2
1. NGC 4494 (Galaxy)
2. NGC 4565 (Galaxy)

2/23

Man, things haven't been so great. I mean look at that! Almost a month without stargazing! What I am going to tell you is completely unbiased and for my own good. No, I'm not saying that I've come to the point where I should 'take time off' from this hobby because I'm getting bored. Really, you should see the objects I have on the waiting list. I am not bored! I am however very sick. Not so extreme to the point where I have to miss days of school, but enough to stay indoors every night for the sake of my health. I must admit that I think this is best. I know, it's a new-moon on vacation for crying out loud, but I have to listen to my doctor. Besides, I won't be missing much since these skies are too cloudy to go on a trip to Zach's dark skies up North. The best night I observed so far only lasted 4 or 5 hours. That wouldn't have worked so well up North especially with the other new-commers that will only slow progress. Effectively I can conclude with confidence that I would only have an hour of real observing through the telescope or eye. So due to Michigan's limitations, even if I was out during the new-moon, I would be greeted by the same level 8 or 9 skies I have become so accustomed to. So due the weather conditions I have experienced, I think I will have to push the trip to Spring break, sometime around April 14. Unfortunately it looks like the Moon will be on full-blast until the 14 where it will calm at its last quarter stage. Thankfully, by the time it rises at 4AM, it would have already passed the Realm of Nebulae and even the Heart of the galaxy.

2/26	+1 hour for Z8

Finally got out tonight. To make things quick I went outside and only observed the Planets and Moon until the haze cleared. Later I came out, was disapointed by M42, but taken by Bode's Nebulae, Mars, and M65 and M66. I tried and did not find IC 342 tonight.

3/3	+1/2 hour for Z8
	+1 hour for Z8 (morning)


Stayed out the pretty much the entire night (from about 8 to 12) but only got a half-hour's worth of observing. When I first got out I had chances with M42, Mars, and the Moon. When I was all setup, only the Moon was visible (with some hints of Mars peeking in and out). M42 had drifted too far down, and the clouds completly consumed that area. Starting conditions were rather 'rubish,' but a half hour later conditions improved considerably. Good enough to take some shots (will take a look at them eventually) of the Moon that came out okay. Spotted Mars only for a few with the Vixens. Not really suprised that the planet is barely larger if at all noticible to the human eye. Just as Jupiter's oposition last year, this event is over-hyped. You don't need the planet to be at its peak just to view it...anyways the planet looked pretty good as it did last time, but clouds were restless and eventually blocked out the object. I got to admit, when I came out, I though Mars was an airplane because it was so bright. Yeah, that's it. I may wake up early in the morning to see how Spring's best is doing.

Managed to wake up early at 3ish and was already observing at 4. Not suprised (I was expecting) to find that the clouds were indeed receeding and more stars were coming into view. With the moon gone, I was presented by a load of Spring and Summer stars. Most attention-grabbing was Hercules, which was very obvious and easy to recognize. Noticed the Summer triangle's Vega, Deneb, and Altair rising in the North East. I didn't have much concern for Garrad because I knew I wouldn't see much here in the city even if it was half a mile above me. If you really want to see it, you should know that it's nearing Ursa Minor now and can be viewed at any time before the early hours. Noticed that transparency for once was far better than seeing. Mars and Saturn were poor-looking objects of little interest, although I have to say that viewing mars was difficult due to its vaulted brightness. The first object I actually say was M13. Impressive since the last time, but still leaves the desire of a dark sky and the beauty of Summer. Caught M51 rediculosly easy. It was like instinct to find it so quickly. To my suprise, it was much brighter than expected. You could tell M51 apart from its partner NGC 5195. Think I can see some nebulosity around the core, extending towards the partner. For once, I did not have the luxury of viewing the Bode's (what a shame!) because by the time I was done with Leo/Virgo the North was already clouding up with a very thick haze. Oh, that's right. Saw one of the Leo Triplet galaxies but more haze intervened. Also took another peak at that awesome hat in Corvus. Difficult to define the tilt, but is not impossible. The same haze in Leo made the dark lane invisible. My next and final catch was what I believed to be NGC 4565, which was suprising because I was looking for NGC 4494. I found this first, and I could swear it was the Spindle because it had a clear, defined shape to it rather than the spherical NGC 4494 near tenth magnitude.

Unfortunetly I broke the finder scope's mount. I was rushing the scope after hearing some yells (10 to 20 feet in my FRONT yard) and I smashed right into the wall. Thankfully I was wearing gloves, but my wrist still hurts and I may have brused my index finger. The OTA has a few dings, but it doesn't look like the optics are damaged. Waiting on Zhumell on word of a possible replacement.

3/5	+2 hours for Z8

Well well well, look at what we've got here? I actually logged more than an hour's worth of observing? What a suprise. Since I don't have to do HW tonight, I decided to go out "early" to view Venus, the Moon, and maybe M42...It turns out I spend the rest of the night with on and off clouds, enjoing the sights of Messier 42 -- with its fading lifetime remaining in our sky, I saught to take advantage of whatever clear skies to enjoy what I won't be seeing over Summer. How ironic, that just a few days ago I was thinking to myself that the Winter constellations were full of boring objects; and that there were few, but bright objects to see (quality vs quantity compromise I guess). I had a quick revelation when I plugged in some of the filters and watched it grow to full length. Indeed, under a large moon the nebula still stretched out even without the filters, but looked best with the light pollution filter in place (not MY OIII). I actually combined both to find that it will brighten the object with a compromise of detail. Found that the OIII alone actually gives worse-off results and so I went to the light pollution filter for the majority of the time. While observing the night, I even took a chance at M1. As crazy as it sounds, without a finder scope, I actually found it (only after a quick reference to Stellarium because the SkyAtlas does not contain enough reference stars for actually viewing through the telescope) with modest difficulty with the LP filter (Light-Pollution). Using both actually hurt the brightness. I WAS going to get comet Garradd (now that it's regulary visible near Ursa Major), but by the time I replaced my telescope on the deck, clouds (er, haze) had already made their way into the Northern sky. How disapointing to get cheated now that I actually want to see it at its closest distance. Anyways, I did see Mars, and although the conditions were not quite ideal throughout the entire night, I was still happy to find dark spots easy to see and the Northern cap not to difficult either. I would love to stay out tonight, but it is becoming even more cloudy and I am also taking the ACT tommorrow (that I'm not really so concerned about) so I have to go to bed modestly early.

3/8	+1 hour for Z8

Whew, wow. I know I normally don't observe under a full-moon, but I also didn't know that it would be so good out tonight. I came out with intentions of planetary observations only. The second I spotted Mars, I was immediately discouraged to continue. The atmoshpere made five duplicates of Mars which was an obvious indication of poor seeing tonight (ufortunetly, the seeing never improved even until the end of the session). My intitial thoughts were conclusive that I should pack in since the Moon will drown out all and the seeing won't let up. Instead, I grabbed a cup of coffee and the nebula filters and took a peak at M42. As usual, not very impressive at low power under the Moon, but high power (have not used high power on M42 in weeks) was pretty cool with both filters in place. Afterwords, I challenged myself for the Bode's (still without finder scope) and succeeded in a few minutes. What I was most impressed by was the brightness. Damn, that's for-sure the brightest I've seen those two under a full-moon. Normally I would be used to seeing them totally washed out, but no; they were both there, with easy shape and brightness which was no problem to discover tonight. Challenged myself further with M51 and also succeeded once more. Again, this galaxy was immune to the Moon's full-blast of glare although it was still a very faint single patch of grey light. I am getting used to starhopping with the telescope itself instead of the finder. Also saw Spica and Saturn peaking over 10 degrees in the East. Saturn, as expected, was still under water and I had no more time for galaxy hunting, although I think I can officially declare the season start sometime *soon* maybe over the weekend or just on the first day of Spring.

3/9	+2.5 hours for Z8

Went over to Alison's house for the first time to encounter an exceptional sky. I was very impressed by the brightness of many nebulous objects even under a 90%+ moon. Tracked down that comet Garradd with some new coordinates. Fairly bright, but still affected by the moon. Then I moved over tho the Bode's to have my socks rocked. Damn, even NGC 3077 was visible in the triplet. After some commotion over M40, I got to M51 and attempted M1. M51 was visible but weak compared to the last time I saw it. Could not find M1. After some tea, we continued with the Moon. Was impressed by that new moon-filter. Really brings out detail and preserves natural color.

3/10	+1.5 hours for Z8

After the play I went over to Ligget school in their track field. Very dark. It was a little hazy but I pulled through every object I attempted. The skies were dark enough! Got Bode's, M97, (I think) M108, M51, M64, M65, and M66. Think I may have seen NGC 3628. Did not check out planets. With the OIII and 15mm, I think I could spot one of the eyes in M97.

3/16	+1.5 hour for Z8

Meh. Pretty crappy skies even without a moon in the sky. Haze caused this phenomenom. As a matter of fact, it was actually fog. It was EVERYWHERE! On the ground, in the sky, in your scope; by the time we were done (11ish), the entire field was consumed by a super-dense fog straight from any horror movie. Man that was creepy. Even more spooky was walking out into the light, looking to your left, spotting obvious headlights, and they turn off the second you notice them. As far as observing went, I found the basics (Bode's, M42, M97, etc) while Alison and Richard naturally participated >1% of actual observing while I got all of my hours in. Makes me wonder if they are really into this stuff as much as I am.

3/17	+2.5 hours for Z8

Not suprised to find that weather still won't let up for a flawless observing night at Ligett field (the darkest, open area around town!). Not discouraged, I observed happily at many objects (mostly galaxies--WELCOME TO GALAXY SEASON!! WHOOO!) in Ursa Major, Coma Berenices, Leo, and Virgo. We were accompanied by a newcommer (welcome, Scott!) as well as 10-15 cretins that poorly attempted a game of ultamite frisbee (really??). While they seemed to be a nuisance, I did some extra *terrestrial* observing too. At one point they though we were summoning the devil with our red light. Haha, what a bunch of loons. And of course, Zach and I were the only people actually doing serious observing and earning our hours at the eyepiece while...you guessed it---the others did little. While we were observing, Alison "claimed" that she was "observing" *Cough* (with) Scott. Oh well. Fun night still. I also learned that silhouettes can be very interesting too (only Zach will get this reference).

3/21	+3.5 hours for Z8

Had an incredible solo-night right here in the peace and comfort of my own backyard. With today's much-desired heat and dryness brought us clear, cool skies with great transparency that complements greatly with the absence of the moon. Went out early to watch and photgraph birds but didn't start observing until around 9ish. Started with Mars and M95 in hopes of catching the SN. I don't think I saw it, since M95 is surrounded by many many stars that range greatly in magnitude. Although I did see the galaxy, I was not sure of the SN. I also found M105 in that vacinty. Caught the Leo ("doublet") Triplet with M65 and M66. I found many new, exciting objects like the Ghost of Jupiter, the (real) Spindle Galaxy), and various other galaxies in Leo and Virgo. Among these new finds were some of my Spring time favorites: M51, M104, Leo triplet (mentioned), NGC 4565, and (who couldn't forget) the Bode's Nebulae. I am also finding that I am getting used to a TELRAD-only setup where I can just as easily find almost every object that I pursue.

Objects found tonight:	5
1. NGC 3242 (Planetary Nebula)
2. NGC 3115 (Galaxy)
3. NGC 3521 (Galaxy)
4. M49 (Galaxy)
5. M99 (Galaxy)

3/25	+2 hours for Z8

Man, I have been getting rusty. It's been already a few days since I actually observed this night, so I will try my best to fill in what I can remember. Got out early (bird watching until sundown) to be greeted by the young, skinny moon in a most interesting right trinagle with Venus and Jupiter. I captured many shots of this (I may upload these soon). I actually observed the moon for only a fraction of the time I was out, because I knew I would not have the luxury of a slim moon next week and on. Attempting M95's Supernova but again no luck (I believe a dark-sky is perfectly in order). Visited the Leo "doublet" and not impressed. Bode's Nebulae becoming BORING. M51 depressing. My only spec of joy that night was NGC 3115. I am really liking this object. It is great because of its shape, brightness, and diagnol rim. Remeber the Ghost of Jupiter as just a green fuzz-ball. Not impressive, but bright. I NEED A DARK SKY.

*EDIT*
I almost forgot; I had some time left so I went searching for a "risky" object in Coma Berenices. This was an Up North 2011 favorite, NGC 4631 "The Whale Galaxy." At Magnitude 9.2, this was a fairly bright, irregulary shaped, edge-on spiral with some radical shape I normally do not find in similar objects. This is one of the objects that I fell in love with, so I attempted to find it again early this season. Although during winter, over break on those freezing cold mornings (around 3 to 4 AM when CB was actually up), I did attempt and fail this object. I didn't know what I was doing in the cold winter air. This time, however, not drousy and not freezing, I was calm to find it earlier in the East than in winter. After a pain-staking one-hour search, I may have spotted a large, very very faint rectangular object that spanned a larger diamater than...maybe M104 or NGC 3115. I really can't comfirm its finding now, because contrary to my 2011 sightings (still remember seeing it like yesterday, if that's not love for you), I saw it as a thin, elongated disk maybe the exact size as NGC 3115. So, I can't really be sure. Maybe I found something else? I guess I won't know 'til I go to another DARK SKY soon(????).

3/26	+1/2 hour for Z8

Son of a damn! Man what a wake-up call from Michigan's crap-tastic weather system. Looks like we are again being demotted from those incredible 65+ degree nights to below freezing (it was only 30 degrees). Because of such an extreme change, I only observed for about 30 minutes. I took a peak at Mars (some detail, but seeing limited my viewing time), and observed part two of last night's right-triangle. Noted that the Moon has switched places with Jupiter to Venus, which according to Stellarium was nearly a ten-degree jump! After planetary observations I immediatly jumped to NGC 3115. Notable and still interesting. Finding out that I am typing this that I am not nearly as impressed with it. I am assuming now that I will grow tired of this object in just a few more observations. I'm sure it will look better at a DARK SKY.

4/2	+1 hour for Z8

Ugh, oh wow. Why is it that it's clear only on moon-lit school nights? #astronomyproblems. Came out early after realizing that the skies would be clear tonight. When night fell, and homework was finished, I encountered the moon-lit, freezing cold night. I must say that I am now very bored about astronomy. I am running out of new objects to look for (the only ones there are *fairly* bright are boring, sparse open clusters), those I have counted are no longer the idols I once favored every night, and I already know what to expect for every galaxy above 8th magnitude. I am having the same feeling that I had over a year ago at Metro. I got out of the EP, and just chilled. I sat most of the time just thinking instead of observing. Just doesn't have that *kick* that it used to have. I am REALLY in need of a DARK SKY right now. I guess I'll go attempt M3 now. Maybe I'll change my mind.

Hehe..So took a peak and was hooked from there. Went for a Carbon star in Virgo (found, will add later), observed (and photographed) Saturn, which looked really good tonight, and compared brightness of M104 and NGC 3115. Under this moon, M104 was non-impressive, while NGC 3115 was nearly non-existent. Suprised to find such a huge difference in brightness. Super tired, going to bed.

4/5	+2 hours for Z8 (night)
	+1.5 hours for Z8 (following morning)

Observed tonight at Alison's for the second time. Met up with her, Zach, Scott and Ryan (a friend of Scott and Zach) at 9-ish. I didn't really think it would have been a great night, but boy was I wrong about that. To my suprise, the Moon wasn't such a nuisance as most objects that we were viewing were easily visible (even M81/M82 were "normal"). First fuzzy for me was Garradd, which I successfully located in Ursa Major, very close to a bright star which made finding it easy. Planets didn't get much attention (Saturn was bleh at every moment, and Mars didn't get some attention until I was packed up in the front, waiting for my Mom). Presented M42 with the OIII and impressed. Showed off my knowledge of the constellations and such. Got M97, M13, and a bright satalite (not ISS) as it flew in Ursa Major (by all odds it flew by when I was observing the Bode's through Zach's scope). Pretty good night with some nice herbal tea and chat time. Waking up early for the best objects later.

Boom! Man, that sure was a hit. Woke up early and got out at 4:30 with the telescope already outside (inside the shed; much, much easier than pulling it out of the house). Flabergasted by what was offered above. The Summere triangle aproches. Lyra almost at zenith. Where to start first? I decided (kind of early last night) to get M57. And so I did. Man, was that refreshing. With no filter it was fantastic. I could not keep my eye off it. Then goes in the OIII. Only gets better. Observed at every magnification. Moved the scope to the concrete for a shot of a larger planetary M27. It had been a while, and I was hoping I would get a lot with the OIII. Well the hell I did! Even at just 40x, with (and without) the OIII, I could clearly see structure; not just a spherical blob of light. You know how it has two sections? Well I saw exactley that. Man I love the summer stuff. But it gets better! I moved the scope over, and then I spotted Sagitarius. Oh my...this will be FUN. It has been a very long time since I had even spotted this fabulous constellation, in the heart of our Mother Galaxy. I pointed towards this area, under transparent skies, and spotted M8: the Lagoon nebula. Without the filter it was bleh. I could only spot the brightest region occupied by the single O-type star in the center. But pop in the OIII, and it really shines. Nebulosity continues around and around the nebula, all the way over to the cluster on the other side of the body. Most intriguing was the obvious dark band placed over the nebula. Just like in the picures, this dark band separates the O-star away from the rest of the nebula. I don't remember if I zoomed in, but I think I still saw some more structures later. Even with the full moon, I must say that with the OIII, under that morning's transparent skies, Messier 8 can easily rival M42. I also spotted the Trifid for the first time without a dark sky with the OIII. Saw only the brighter Emission part and nothing else. Just a vague, spherical blog. The next impressive jem was M17. After observing this for several minutes with the OIII, I had realized that this does indeed appear as a Swan. I noticed the head and body very easily, but with difficulty without the filter. I am very glad of this purchase. The last object in Sagitarius was M16. Spotted only a faint patch of light (Star Queen nebula) that I had seen before at Wampler's when I didn't have a filter at all. As the time aproached 5:30 (the time I had identified as early twilight), I searched for the magnificent M13. At the zenith I observed this. Wow! I mean really, that was spectacular. It was nothing like I had ever seen in my backyard. Very large, very bright. Could resolve stars at just 40x power. Went all the way to 300X just for fun. Man, I won't forget that. Wrapped up the night with another find: I faint globular cluster in Ophiucus; M14. I some how found this 7.6 magnitude cluster under the Full moon, even as dawn aproached. Not bad.

Objects found during the session(s): 1
1. M14 (Globular Cluster)

4/9	+1.5 hours for Z8 (morning)

Woo Hoo! Just 3 hours away from a milestone of 200 hours. I woke up at 4:30 this morning with lower expectations of the morning goodies as they were on the 5th or 6th. With the moon wandering closer to the Heart of the Galaxy, it was no wonder that those fabulous nebulae weren't so incredible as they were before. I came out anyways, to be suprised that it wasn't that cold as the last time I came out. It was actually 40 degrees, up from 35 (or something), which is what I pathetically consider to be "warm" here in Michigan. Anyways, I started nice and slow, taking my time (and even getting a drink) while planning out what objects I would search for. While surfing the charts in Cygnus, I noticed the famed "Crescent Nebula" (NGC 6888). I had no idea how faint or large it would be, only a hope that it would look just as good visually as photographically. Boy, was I in the wrong. But not to my suprise, it was invisible even with the OIII in place. So after that, I moved onto a less challenging (but still challenging) planetary nebula known as "The Blinking planetary." No, it was not difficult because it is supossed to be a blinking illusion, it is that my chart's weren't really up to the task of tracking down such a small nebula within the crowded Cygnus region (thousands of stars makes this part less-than-easy). In time, I found it only to be disapointed that it didn't have that 'pizazz' like it had the first time I laid my eyes on it. The blinking was seldom, as I was able to observe the nebulosity at direct and averted vision. Not impressive. With dawn aproaching, I took the journey into Sagitarius for the beloved nebulae. By accident, I actually found M22, the Sagitarius cluster. It was fairly bright for what I expect, and deffinetly caught my eye. I could resolve most of the stars very easily before I relocated the telescope to view M8 and so fourth. So then I arrived at M8. Bleh, it is nothing like it was with that moon on aproach. With the OIII, I could still resolve the dark band, but nebulosity suffered greatly. M20's nebulosness was even further deprived. Randomly jumped over to M17 without effort before I noticed the sky brightening. So I had to finish the night with M27, M57, and M13. Visited M27 with OIII. Still nice, but losing brightness to the coming dawn. The Ring presented itself more clearly as it had a much higher surface brightness, which has a stronger immunity to a bright sky. Checked out the Great cluster before packing up. Very nice, and especially so because it maintatined its glory as the Sun made its way to the horizon. Normally, under such warm weather, with the Spring birds singing, I would stay up until sunrise, but I could not risk losing energy for the NRAO trip. BTW, there I will observe M8, 3c 273, and 3c 279.

4/18	+1/2 hour for Z8

Tonight was very bland and depressing. I was looking forward to fair skies (no moon + clear skies= star PARTY) and and objective to search for M95's supernova. I checked out Saturn. Spotted 3 or 4 moons, while the planet was a dull, white/yellow blob with its rings with barely (or no) any detail. Seeing and transparency were 2/5 at best. My quest for M95 was made very complicated because I still have no finder scope, and the charts in my book are too primitive (insufficient stars for reference) for searching via eyepiece (40x). So instead, I had to draw in more stars with Stellarium, only to find out that I was correct on my whereabouts. I ended up not finding it at all. You can thank its extreme faintness and the blazing detroit lights to obscure my view. After that, I called it the end. I have to study anyways.

4/21	+1 hour for Z8

Went of to a half-planned, half-improvised photographic oportunity at Ligett field for the Lyrid meteor shower. Arrived at 10:30 with mostly clear skies with (what appeared to be) just a few passing clouds. Half an hour later, of course, those clouds expanded into wopping behemoths that were threatening our skies every minute. I knew that these clouds would most likley ruin my chances of catching some meteors, and they nearly succeeded with just one picture showing a Lyrid (going behind a cloud) out of about 100 30-second pictures. For some reason, the camera was taking all of the shots at 35mm, and not 18mm, meaning that the field of view was smaller than I intended. Although I captured a meteor, it is not a very good picture, since the cloud takes up over 50% of the image. It looks nothing like you would see on google images. As far as observing goes, I could tell that Zach just wasn't having a good night. He couldn't find a thing. I should teach him the 'fast way' of finding Bode's nebulae, which was the way that got me there in just 15 seconds. That night we glimpsed (what I was finding) M104, the Leo "DOUBLET," and M13. I got to say though, Saturn was excellent. It was just out of the ballpark. You could see lots of detail on the planet itself, as well as the rings (Cassini division for example). Shadows on the planet, and at least 7 moons visible. Looked great at every magnification. Seeing must have been excellent over the lake, because Mars just wasn't feeling it while it made its transit over the ground. I fear that Mars has already lost its glory (well, actually IMO it did the first time I saw it) as it receeds from its oposition point. But Saturn...I think it made up for everything we couldn't see that night. Just wow.

4/25	+3 hours for Z8

*Milestone reached: 200 hours*

Well, could you look at that? Just ran my 200-hour milestone. Damn. Anyways besides that little feat, I had one of the better nights that anyone would prefer. I mean, just look at how long I was out. As a matter of fact, I was out longer than 3 hours, but I was just taking pictures at the time. As far as observing goes, conditions were excellent. Saturn was even better than it was at Ligett. Later that night, I actually came back to it with 300x to almost be floored at what awaited me at the eyepiece. It was much, much brighter and larger than what I remember from last year. I could point out just about every feature, from the Cassini division to about 5 moons, to the shadows on the rings and the planet itself. Mars was bleh, as always. So yes, Saturn is officially my favorite planet (that is, currently in-season, however). While showing Saturn to my Dad, the ISS actually made an unexpected visit over the south, about 50 degrees above the horizon. I checked in Stellarium, and there it was. Unfortunetly, I could not capture it in the camera as a cloud came and took the stage instead. Still, it was cool that I finally saw it for once (as it has been gone for months now). Along with excellent seeing came excellent transparency. I mean really, that was a GREAT night. I could easily glimpse the Coma star cluster with averted vision, which is typically invisible on average nights. It was in that constellation that I saw the elongated NGC 4565 (not very good though) for the first time in a while. In Ursa Major I got the Bode's Galaxies which were o-k (I am getting bored of them now), but I missed M51!! Oh, I guess in the panic of excellent skies and limited time, I had to reserve the brighter objects first. In Leo I spotted M65 and M66, as well as a peak at NGC 3628. M66 and M65 very prominent. The last DSO for the night was M13, which was fair at every magnification. I don't know why, but I tried to get a peak at the nearby galaxy, NGC 6207 at 11.6 magnitude (hahaha what a joke).

4/26

Planned to photograph the ISS. Made its way around 9:30, and I had my camera all setup for the shot. Did not observe tonight (really, really busy).

4/27	+1 hour for Z8

I can't even remember much from this night (It has been a long time since I updated these). From the limited memories I have, I recall an unexpected visit of the ISS around 8pm. I made some blurry attempts ot capture, but came to no go ends. I did however observe it in the telescope. Not easy as I can remember. In that night I was also discrete with lunar viewing and spent most time on Saturn. WOW! I am falling in love with this planet. Went to 300x and still enjoyed perfect seeing conditions (NO BLUR!!). I must say, it is much brighter than last year and also much larger (rivals Jupiter in size, in contrast to last year's wimpy views, where it was tiny and extremely dim at 300x). Went observing the Bode's Galaxies, M13, and had a little trouble with M51 before the clouds came. Eventually found it and was not disapointed. It was actually much larger than normal (with its companion present) and had some faint nebulosness around it. Encountered a loose dog that was standing in front of my gate, watching me for 20 seconds before he walked away (creepy/scarry).

4/29	+1 hour for Z8 (morning)

Ah, alas. The morning treats. Always worth waking up early for. At fist however, it was a little hazy (well, pretty damn hazy for my liking), but it cleared later. I can't put my finger to it, but it looked VERY dark out before the haze got bad. There was a plethora of stars directly above (not really that close to the Milky Way, if that's what is on the mind). Maybe I'm just glad to see the summer objects. When the haze finally cleared, I ran into more trouble. Not only was it below freezing again, but there was an abundance of fog on the equipment. I had to use the blower bulb on the TELRAD and the Lenses every time I glanced at them. As far as observing went, it was pretty good. M27 was stunning as always, especially with the OIII in place. I was meaning to draw it, but not in freezing weather, thank you. I called my Dad out to see some of these objects, meaning I unfortunetly had to take some notable objects off the observing list (M17, M20, M24, and M16) since we would not have time before the sun comes up. We did have time to view the best of all of them, however. Messier 8 was presented with its dark band, and dual nebulosity. Not as great as on the 5th (maybe because the EPs were fogging), but was pretty good. Also showed him and myself M13 and M57. Noted Cassiopea high in the sky in the NE. There were no planets worth mentioning.

So, I am noting some things now. First, I realized that soon there will be no planets to view. Venus will drift behind the sun, Jupiter will remain out-of-season, Mars isn't even worth mentioning, and when Summer really begins, Saturn may not be such a luxury. At one point, I can speculate, there will not even be one planet to see in the sky. Good thing the Milky Way is chock-full of delicous (nebuloss) treats. Also, I am really shocked by the absence of these long mornings. I am talking about how little time I actually have. I recall, that in February or even March, that I could easily stay out until 6:30 AM before it began to brighten. Now, it's getting bright as early as 5:23 AM. Just wow. And to think that in the summer it will be even earlier, the sun will set later, and it takes longer to get dark? Where will the night be? Guess we'll find out.

5/11	+2 hours for Z8

Off to Liggett. Helped everyone with finding new objects in the "new" constellations that everyone has not learned yet (of course, except for me). In particular was M64 in Coma Berenecies. This was a while ago, so I can't remember every other detail since this update. What I did remember was that we transformed our telescopes into "Light Cannons," literally by putting the flash into the telescope focuser. Whoosh! And their is a brilliant beam of light that shoots as far as we can see. Richard also took some pictures of Mars and Saturn with my small POS Sony. I also relocated the Turtle Nebula for the first time in a year. M51 was the first target of the night.

5/13	+1 hour for Z8

Though this seems unlikely, I can't seem to rember much from this night either. I think I may have found a few more objects in Ophiucus like M10 or M12. Spotted the Bode's through other scopes. Richard found M60.

5/16	+1 hour for Z8

Once again, Alison lied by not bringing anything that she was talking about, so naturally the observing night went to something more like a "date night" with her new boyfriend, Ryan. I am seriously doubting her interest. For the majority of the night, it was just Zach and I searching for objects in Virgo, Coma Berenecies, and a few other constellations. Saw NGC 4494, 4565, The Spindle in Hydra, M87, M84, M86, and the Bode's +M13 through Zach's 15x70s. Nothing to special tonight. Getting slightly better at locating things with the EP. Two guys showed up and one of them walking the track asked us what was going on. Seemed interested but he was a little wierd with some theories on an "artificial moon."

5/19	+4.5 hours for Z8

So, what a fabulous night at Gladwin. I was very glad to go, despite having little energy, lots of homework to deal with on Sunday, the presence of Alison, and the challenge of fitting two Dobs inside a sedan. Well, I plowed past these issues and enjoyed the whole night with my own telescope and plus some big brothers (telescopes in the range of 13.1 to 20 inches), which most certainly gave me aperature feaver (especially while looking at M51 through that 20 inch telescope. After setting up the tent (with difficulty) and the scopes, we began the night with the planets. Venus was of little interest to me, so Saturn was the primary target. Still early, it lacked its essence later to be regained as night progressed. My first DSO was the Beehive. Not too impressive as always, but it was still twilight through. Didn't even bother looking back. The next cluster was M13, which during twilight, was still better than what we get here in Harper Woods even on the best nights. My first galaxy I observed on my own was M104, later during the night. The shape was obvious, the darklane an easy find, and its size lavish in comparison to our home. I regrett not observing the mexican hat through the other big scopes, which I am sure would have rocked the view. Zach's addiction the the Bode's galaxies was fed by these surpassing skies and larger telescope. I too was amazed, and especially so when Zach used the Televue Ethos. I swear, the view was near identicle to what we were seeing in those larger telescopes. While observing M82, I was surprised to find a network of dark veins through the 15" Obsession Dob. But yes, that I should expect. M81's arms were invisible, but the view of NGC 3077 (the third galaxy in the Bode's) was the compromise (even seen directly with our telescopes). The next sight was M51 through my telescope. I was almost floored! It has been such a long time since I've seen those arms, or more or less the nebuloss disk surrounding it. By coincidence, the 20" had the same object in the view, and this was just extreme. Forget averted vision. Just look, and there it is. The arms are easy to see, and NGC 5195 is an obvious blob, with a shape true to what is seen in photographs. It was addicting, and almost unreal in such a powerful telescope. What really amuses me is that they can easily zoom into these objects for a in-your-face experience without a compromise in brightness. I was forced to suffer dimming even at 80x, just twice that of the low-power EP. Another object was M101, which not surprising was easy to find and still very faint. It resembled a large blob, but with careful observing and averted vision I could spot a few spiral arms which appeared slightly brighter than the surrounding disk. Oh, and what fun in Virgo! I saw a lot of these objects in the biggies, but I can't help explaining my unforgetable experience with my own telescope, viewing practically EVERY galaxy in the Virgo Cluster. At one point, in Markarian's chain, I could point out at least seven galaxies in the 30mm. Just wow. Something I really liked was the Face of Virgo, where I could see all four of the galaxies that make up that interesting phenomenom. Panning right (accoring to the inverted EP), I could also spot The Eyes, and at least two more brighter galaxies in this chain. M87 was fairly bright, and in was accompanied by an NGC object! I could go on and on, but to keep things simple, lets just say that I am VERY HAPPY. I really wish I could spend more time, but as always, I am rushed to find the many other things I will never have a chance with here at home. In Leo, I finally saw the complete Triplet, instead of a doublet, with the wispy NGC 3628. Nice 'face' in that formation. I love this place. In Coma Berenices, Zach found the Black Eye (neglected by me), while I saught the spectacular edge-on NGC 4565 in the facinity of NGC 4494. With the beefy 20-inch, this was a dream come true. It is near that of astro photos. Thin, elongated, and assembled with a dark lane. Later that night, just before the Iridium flare, I caught my beloved NGC 4631. If you read my log of this for my Up North trip last year, this is one of the things that I learned to love. However, with this imperfect sky, it lacked that great appearence I loved so much. However, I was thrilled to see atleast the Hockey Stick just to the right (in the EP) of it. Nice find once again. Before this encounter, I captured M13, which was one hell of a view. I saw those arm-like extensions, which really proves how much more you can see out here even with an 8-inch scope. A similar cluster, although with an odd, textured appearence was M11. To my eye, it had a strange, Aztec brick texture. Not interested, I moved onward. M57, not being a challenge, was an okay sight, and I can report the possibility of the central star within the extra nebulosness within the circle. With no filter, M27 was quite a sight. I have to say, and I don't think I have ever said so, but the Dumbell with no filter is better than one with the OIII. To me, the OIII blocked detail, dimmed the nebula, and killed the illusive background. I also did some experimenting. I used Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green filters to see what does best. All of them were inferior to no filter at all. About and hour later, the 20" caught sight of M27. Jeeze. That nebula looks 3D. There are stars behind the nebula. There is also the central star too. Man, I am envious. With some doubts, I was the first to get the Veil, but I knew what to expect with this little scope. Even with the OIII, the Veil is a faint construction of smooth green silk in the sky. The other half (not associated with 52 Cyg) wasn't as quite as entrancing as it was last fall, but still interesting. Of course the view was splendid in the 20-inch. I was really taken off by some people saying "it's not a good night for the Veil." What? Are you kidding? Have you seen this? How high are your expectations? You are telling me you've seen better in your smaller scope? I'm lucky just to see it at all! I also took a glance at the N. America Nebula, but no luck even with the OIII. I didn't observe the morning glory objects until much later when Zach and Mrs. Herrold went to bed. To my surprise, the Lagoon, although under the influence of light pollution, was no better than it was here (Wait, maybe not because I saw that dark lane, without the OIII). The OIII actually hurt this object, probabley because it's dirty and foggy. Because of that I put the filter away for the rest of the night. Once again I experimented with the filters for a better view, but same results. I should mention that the Red filter actually just totally ANNIHILATED the nebula. Even the stars were just bairly visible. Not a good idea at all. So onward, I got M17 and M16. M16 actually had nebulosity around the cluster without a filter. M17 had a barber pole texture. Before the flare I encountered a double feature in Cepheus. That NGC 6946 and a nearby open cluster was interesting. Very nice. I would have tried for NGC 5907 in Draco, but I was unsure about its whereabouts and even if I could risk more fogging (which was a problem for most of the night). The Milky Way was up. But rather than describing it in a five-page document, I will let the pitures speak for themselves. Early in the morning, I caught M31 too. Not impressive, but later I think I could begin to make out a dark lane. Also, later in Coma Berenices, I managed to capture the distant NGC 4889 in the Coma Cluster, which to me is an astounding achievement given its dim 11.4 magnitude in this class 5 or 6 sky. Bugs weren't such a nuisance though, too. Me and the rest of the people still out did see something really wierd. Besides all of the other bright satalites, we saw one that was FLASHING. This was no plane. It would dim out, apeard, and flash! Just like a light house. The threory was that it was some kind of rotating object. Estimated magnitude at the flash was about 0 to -1. Really early, about 4:15AM, I heard some talk about my favorite Quintet in Pegasus. Although everyone of those 'high and mighty' "pros" were doubting a sight, I couldn't help but take a look. Using just my TELRAD and EP, I found the triangle by searching for the bright NGC 7331. In this triangle, although it is always a task to confirm, I think I saw a glimpse for a fraction of a second. I mean, it can't be that hard. That Jeremy Perez found these objects with the same telecope specs I have with 240x power (pushing the limits) under darker or equial skies. I just don't know what's wrong with these people. You have a monster telescope. Are you telling me a little fault in transparency is too much for you? Too afraid to push your $4,495 telescope to the limits? Please. Don't be such a WUSS.

Objects found during the session(s):
1. NGC 4889 (Galaxy) <-- New distance record: 308 Mly
2. NGC 4478 (Galaxy)
3. NGC 4567 (Galaxy)
4. NGC 4568 (Galaxy)
5. M89 (Galaxy)
6. M90 (Galaxy)
7. NGC 4387 (Galaxy)
8. NGC 4388 (Galaxy)
9. NGC 4435 (Galaxy)
10. NGC 4438 (Galaxy)
11. NGC 4596 (Galaxy)
12. NGC 4608 (Galaxy)
13. NGC 4477 (Galaxy)
14. NGC 4473 (Galaxy)